I May Be Bad But I'm Perfectly Good At It
by fairfarrenlovelylydia
Summary: The Knave has always loved the Queen. But not the one you would assume at first sight. Seen as an enemy to the Kingdom, however, how can he ever win her heart the way she won his! Better summary inside! R&R. Please don't flame. Mirana/Stayne
1. Prologue: The Knave of Fools

**Summary: The Knave of Hearts, better known as Illosovic Stayne, has always felt a certain way about the Queen of White, Mirana of Marmoreal. But being banished to the Outlands as an enemy of the nation makes it hard for him to be able to show his feelings. Through his reflections on growing up in the Kingdom side by side with Iracebeth and Mirana makes him realize how he'd chosen the wrong princess. So how will he be able to win the White Queen's heart? And how will he ever get out of the Red Queen's clutches?A**

**A/N: This is my first AiW fic where I haven't wrote about Alice and Tarrant. This has been a challenge because I feel like Stayne and Mirana are two characters I don't quite understand. But I love challenges! Feel free to make suggestions and what not...if this fic gets no attention or is really bad I may not continue.**

**Let me know what you think!**

**Happy Reading and if you can leave a Review :) They make my day.  
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**Fairfarren**

**Lydia  
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><p><strong><em>Prologue: The Knave of Fools <em>**

Sometimes what we want most in life is impossible to obtain. I knew this very well. I was the Knave of fool ideas, the one of lost dreams. I had an ambition to become great in the Kingdom. I had a love I wanted to win over. It all changed when the Red King realized he had married the wrong sister. Iracebeth of Crims was not the darling that the King and the Queen of White had promised her to be. Iracebeth had once been a wide eyed wonder but years of being compared and left behind had calloused all she had been. Envy burned in her eyes and hatred filled her too shrunken heart. Nothing could be done for the once hopeful woman. Iracebeth had lost who she was, living up to her name*.

Her sister Mirana of Marmoreal was a real charm. One would easily assume the young princess to be spoiled with all the attention she was given. But perhaps she had gleaned the spotlight because of her beyond-her-years wisdom. Mirana was able to keep her head as her sister appeared to lose it- figuratively of course. The haughty tyrant's temper forces me to make that clarity.

But this tale isn't about the two tyrants and how they turned out. It's a tale long told and twisted. In the end Mirana petitioned to preserve life while Iracebeth was as eager for power as she was for blood. It took a Champion from the upper world to destroy Iracebeth's pawn, her Jabberwock. But I am sure you've heard the Tale of Alice Hightopp nee Kingsleigh. This story isn't one that I'm going to tell either.

The story you're about to acquire is that of the Knave of Hearts. One sold to the Red Queen in body but slave to a White Queen in heart. But I am getting ahead of myself now, aren't I? Let us go back to that Frabjous Day, the day when The Alice destroyed The Creature. That was the moment when I had realized just how deep I had dug my hole.

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><p>Notes:<p>

*= Iracebeth's name was based on the word irascible which means "easily provoked to outbursts of anger, irritable"


	2. Left in the Desert

"He tried to kill me!" Iracebeth's small mouth whined. Indeed. I'd tried to get her good. I had suffered as much as anyone under Iracebeth's reign. If anything I had suffered more. Would the Hatter hide Alice as closely had he been the lap dog of a juvenile monarch? I wasn't calling for Underlandian blood; she wasn't even of our land! She had caught unrest the first time she had visited. What with the whole business of Tarts. I had taken them; I was the naïve, young castle worker back then. They had been neglected during tea so I thought to myself _"Waste not, want not"_. If the Queen didn't want them, I could enjoy them for dinner. I had not yet learned that the Queen was conditional then- that she had not wanted them _quite yet_. Not that she didn't want them at all!

I had returned them as soon as I could, Alice having been given the blame. She'd quickly tried to pin the crime back upon me and I've held a grudge against the foreigner ever since. I was angry when she had returned a second time, though visiting the realms of the Chesslands past Marmoreal this time. Her third return had made me livid. I wanted to see her gone as much as I wanted Iracebeth off her throne. Destroying Alice wasn't a totally mindless activity the Queen sent me on. Every time the little blonde comes around she brings nothing but trouble to all of Underland. I'd watched in sickening disgust as the cards dragged Iracebeth and myself away. I'd seen Tarrant's futterwacken but as to what happened to their Champion; I'd be forced to wonder in exile. The exile is where my beginning came; one can really change a lot in his thinking when he is given a lot of Time to do so. Time is all that inhabits an exile and he was a much better companion than the Red Queen.

"You are a murderer!" Iracebeth shrieked, yanking on the chain that held us together while simultaneously digging her heels into the dirt. The card man had brought us all the way to the edge of the Outlands, vast desert stretching before us. Beyond the desert, the size of dominos due to the distance lay the Mountains Unknown. No one in the realm of Underland had traveled that far and back had lived. The Unknowns had always interested me and I had made up my mind to travel out to them. It had no longer mattered to any if I had made it or not- I'd been long rejected in the Kingdom no doubt.

My only problem was the mouthy red head currently chained to my left wrist. She was crying on and on about my murder attempt and wearing thin my Patience. I had not much left of Her yet.

"Perhaps you shouldn't be calling names, you Highness." I answered with sarcasm.

"Dare you think that?" She whined in disgust, her mouth turning downward in her speech.

"Are you going to order my head off now?" I snarled. "You'd have to stain your hands with literal blood seeing as you have no one to do it for you."

"Be prudent in how you speak to your Queen." She yanked the chain and I stumbled forward as she had caught me off guard. I began to laugh. She still believed she had something to rule! She held tight to a crown she no longer owned.

"You've lost, Iracebeth! Give up!" My laughs became deeper as her mouth dropped in shock. I couldn't help myself nor could I fully explain why I thought this to be so funny.

"We will rise again, Stayne. Where is the Confidence you once had in me?" She seemed upset that I laughed. She must have thought my joy came at her loss. Could she not see that I was not better off? But I kept up my chuckling as I confessed.

"It never existed."

Iracebeth let out a primeval scream.

"You _lied_ to me, you horrid evil Knave? Did you lie to me about your love? Did you lie to me about your devotion?"

"I lied to you, your Majesty- nay, Iracebeth, because I longed to keep my head."

"I am your Queen-"

"Mirana of Marmoreal is once again the Queen of Underland, Iracebeth. You have to bend you knee to your sister If you ever do see her again." I began to pull Iracebeth forward a second time and she came numbly in shock as reality overcame her.

"It's just a bad dream, Stayne. I'll awake and all will be right-"

"You were defeated by a young, naïve Upperlandian, Iracebeth. That is one nightmare you shall NEVER wake up from." I paused in my path. Iracebeth fell silent and didn't speak again the whole day. It brought back memories of a once quiet and docile Red Tyrant that had indeed once existed. So long ago, I'd nearly forgotten her existence.


	3. Playing With Fire

School was never my forte and much to the dismay of my good hearted mother I was given to trouble. I'd bring all sorts of creatures into class and hid them in the desks of the young girls to make them squeal. The young princesses, Lily, Iracebeth, and Brianda were the easiest to upset. Mirana, the youngest of the bunch, usually became angry as she had that day.

I had spent the evening before on the warm night that lays opposite of the days of snow (some words we had used from Upperland- the prestigious McTwisp family had given us much knowledge of the land) chasing down Dragonflies. They were far worth the effort they took to catch them for angering them would cause tiny sparks to emit from their mouths. These sparks weren't of enough strength to burn down a house but they were able to light a few pages of paper on fire. Which was well and good because the class reader was Iracebeth, the one and only. I used to tease her that the reason her head was so volumous was because she always sat around and read; it was all she was good for. Usually this made Iracebeth cry, which sometimes I felt bad about. Not many thought highly of this young girl. She was too smart for her own good and she had a short fuse. She was known for bouts of temper and tears. Most of the young monarchs had outgrown this. It seemed Iracebeth never had, though she grew more graceful at concealing it.

I sat behind the redheaded princess in class which was a prime opportunity to place my little creature. We were supposed to be studying the Kings and Queen of Underland but Iracebeth's bulb was titled forward indicating her nose was in a book. I took the prime chance to make my move. I bent back as far as I could to make my move. I bent back as far as I could to reach my large hand into the satchel. I glanced up to assure the elderly governess was more intent on dozing off at her desk. Her eyes were closed and as she exhaled heavily a bleating sound came from her lips. I smiled in victory as I wrapped my hands around a jar, pulling it onto my lap. I looked down and was pleased to find the bug roaring angrily as he slammed into the sides. He was sending out short sparks of flames in his fury. His cries of dismay were hardly audible due to his size and the container. Gently I stretched my too long arms forward. I was too tall as it was. My already six foot frame at age twelve was squished into the desk I was assigned. I used the height to my advantage as I slowly brought the Mason jar to the back of the princess' head.

I had slowly and quietly unscrewed the cap with my long, agile fingers as I stretched out towards her. AS soon as I positioned myself, the jar right behind her shoulder. I held my breath and looked around. The few other students were reciting to themselves the names in silent, some writing furiously.

My eyes caught and held sight of Mirana, the youngest. She was eight years old; her long white hair was plaited and twirled into a bun on the back of her head. Her dark eyes were upon her slate of pink and she wrote furiously with her glittery white stick of chalk. Her dark eyebrows were crossed in frustration as she hurriedly erased a mistake on her table with the side of her pale white hand. Her dark lips spoke to herself (those lips were dark then as well though not as deep- her natural lips are a gray pink shade enhanced by brown lipstick). She was exquisitely beautiful even at that age.

I had to collect my thoughts again and take advantage of the Moment as She presented herself. Quickly I removed the top of the jar and with a quick shoving motion I sent the Dragonfly over Iracebeth's shoulder. It came roaring and quickly her head shot up but it was too late as she swatted the creature with a scream. A small spark flew from his mouth and caught the big headed girl's pages. The sound of crackling soon followed as the book began to burn. With a distressed cry, Iracebeth threw the book to the floor. Chaos quickly ensued.

Lily jumped up and swatted the bug to the ground with her slate with a might smack. Mirana was quickly nearby helping Aileen Hightopp stamp out the book. She quickly leaped across Iracebeth, however, when Lily raised her slate above her head for another blow at the Dragonfly which dance about wounded on the floor.

"NO!" She cried out, reaching up to grab he sister's wrist. "Don't hurt him!"

Lily froze, possibly in fear of hurting her sister but most likely in shock at her youngest sister's reaction. Mirana picked up the injured bug in her dainty hands and it slithered in her palms, quivering in fear. I watched in awe and surprise as she murmured to it, cradling the creature until she reached the window. Gently she placed the Dragonfly on the sill and smiled.

"Safe travels, little one." She bid the bug farewell. But Mirana wasn't done yet, oh no. The peace loving beauty turned her deeply hidden wrath on me.

"Illosovic Stayne you troublesome Knave!" She bellowed in her usually harmonic voice. "You've ruined poor Racie's favorite book! You are a complete monster Stayne!" And with that the little monarch stamped firmly on my foot (which was quite painful I admit) and stormed out of the school house, hand in hand with her red headed sister. That was the first time Mirana had ever spoken to me. And the way those brown eyes looked into mine, no matter how angry they were, I knew I didn't want it to be the last.


	4. The Dance of the Dead

**A/N: This is what I get trying to write two stories at once and both in a different POV. I just realized that I began this story in first and then randomly switched to third. That would be going from Thru the Mirror to this. Sorry readers! The part in italics is purposefully in third, however ;D. Explanation will occur.**

**Again I am so sorry about this *hides face behind palm in embarrassment***

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><p>Iracebeth and I had been wandering the desert wasteland for hours; the great Underlandian sun was beginning to set on the unforgiving landscape of sand. Iracebeth's throat had gone dry from spending the early part of the journey whining to the wind. She trudged behind me slowly and I knew that her intricately designed footwear had not been made practical for travel. The moody monarch was accustomed to a litter whenever she traveled outside of the halls of Salazen Grum. My own sturdy feet, hardened by miles of riding and walking as head Knave, were growing tired. They needed to rest for the night; I wasn't uncomfortable with being out in the open, however. I paused a moment to scan the environment, hoping to find a small tree or perhaps a rock to bunker down against for the night. But nothing could be found but baked earth. I looked over to my travelling companion who sat down with a huff, her feet splaying out in front of her.<p>

"I haven't decided to camp here for the night, Iracebeth." I said sternly. The dethroned monarch looked up to him with a scowl.

"I am exhausted, I am thirsty, I want to go home." She squawked. For a brief instant, as Iracebeth spoke of home, I saw the little girl that he once knew. I sighed, feeling a pang of sympathy. It didn't last long. The Knave wasn't one known for mercy; I was going to give no mercy to a queen that showed no grace.

"Do you not suspect that I am tired, thirsty, starved, and wanting to be any place but this Time forsaken desert?" I turned on her, his words biting her like tiny Jubb Jubb birds. "No, for you only think of yourself, don't you Iracebeth?"

"Stayne, please don't yell at me." She sniffed dryly. "I'm sorry."

"You're only sorry because you are stuck out here in the desert- you could care less about the lives that you hurt and the damage you've dealt." I growled. Iracebeth looked at her hands in her laps. I wanted to choke the small neck that lay under the colossal neck but I was too tired at this time. I reached into my chest armor and withdrew a small bag. I opened it up and pulled from it matches, some small pieces of wood, and some jerky. It was a small bag that could hold much, it had been my faithful companion on long Patrols. Now I would have to use what I had left in it to survive. I turned to Iracebeth. "Rip me a piece of your dress." I ordered. She looked up at him in horror.

"What?" Her mouth hung open.

"Rip me a piece of your dress. Do you want to eat or not?" I growled. Iracebeth picked up the skirt loosely; one could easily tell she wasn't excited about parting with the fabric.

"Do I have to do it myself?" I asked. Iracebeth shook her head slowly as she took her two small hands and gave the fabric a great tug. She pulled a good size piece of material from the dress, long and thin, just as I had hoped for. I intricately tied knots here or there and placed it on the ground. I then placed the jerky amidst a noose. Next I slowly backed away from the noose, feeding the fabric I had left. She had done me well for once; I was able to get 3 feet away from the jerky. Next I went to building a fire.

"Aren't you going to feed me?" Iracebeth questioned, indicating to the dried meat.

"This is the desert Iracebeth. It's a Jabberwock eats Jabberwock world you reside in now. My care is for my stomach alone, if you wish to feed yours you're just going to have to trust that I will catch enough." I lit a match against her shoe, for she had plopped down again with her legs splayed, and set it in the fire. "Now I suggest you go to sleep and keep your giant mouth shut." I snarled. Iracebeth looked at him with fear and threw herself into the dirt, squeezing her eyes closed. I chuckled to myself. _Amazing what one will do to keep their life_. I thought, knowing that I knew this lesson all too well. I patiently waited by the fire, hoping that my trap would work. I hadn't made one since I was a young boy causing mischief but I was sure I tied the knot correctly. Quickly, I took the end of the ripped dress and tied it to my shoe. I didn't want the prey to get away if I was to drift off to sleep. Iracebeth was proving just how tiring the day was as she lay on her side, her ribcage heaving in and out in her sleep. My body was tired but my mind was not. Watching the fire was not putting my mind at any more ease. The orange and yellow flames danced about, crackling every once in awhile. The dancing, the popping, the heat was bringing me back to my memories. Time like this only proved that they were all I had left. It had been _that _day….the Horunvendush Day. It had ruined everything in sight, including everybody.

_Stayne had just been promoted to the Captain of the Card Guards now that the King was gone. Iracebeth had gotten rid of him a royal rage, screaming about how he allowed her sister to seduce him. She wanted her power back, she wanted her throne back. But the kindly old King had refused. He was sad to see that Iracebeth was not what her parents had promised. Something was no longer right with the giant headed woman and it brought fear into his heart. In the end, fear was what caused him to meet his end._

_Now that the king was gone, Iracebeth was hell bent on extracting the rest of the revenge. She had gone to the Tugley Woods, her great scepter in hand. She emerged with the fearsome Jabberwock at her side. It was going to be the end of her sister Mirana the White's reign. It was her crown, it was her power. She wasn't going to let anyone stand in her way anymore. So she had ordered Stayne to round up the guards, she had promised that there was going to be a quick battle at hand. Battle wasn't the word for it, it was a slaughter. _

_Stayne had followed the Jabberwock deep into the Tugley Woods, this time entering through Ipalm, to the right. He recognized the houses, the ribbons. Today was the day that the great Hatter clans, the great Cobbler clans, the great Tailor clans, were about celebrating their trade. The White Queen no doubt was with the Royal Milliners, the Hightopps, celebrating with them for the day. Stayne wanted to jump off his horse, he wanted to run. He should have slayed the Jabberwock as it guided them through the woods, unaware of the man behind his back. It all finally made sense, what was going to happen. Iracebeth was sending the Jabberwock to kill Mirana. Stayne loved Mirana, no matter what had happened. She was angry with him; she wanted nothing to do with because of what had occurred. But he loved her still. It was an accident, he just sought forgiveness. Instead of making a wrong right again he spinelessly followed the fearsome creature. Sounds of instruments and singing, dancing and clapping began to fill the woods ahead. They had encountered the Hightopp Village. Stayne stopped his horse, he couldn't go through with it any longer. But before he could stop the giant lizard it sprung forward into the clearing. Stayne heard eruptions of screams from men, women, and children as the Jabberwock descended upon the celebrators. He closed his eyes, trying to pretend like nothing was happening until he heard a blood curdling scream of woman. It was Mirana's. He kicked his horse forward, responding out of instinct but it was too late. He saw the elder of the Hightopp clan waving to Tarrant to usher the Queen away. The red head was spooked but instinctively he knew that if the Jabberwock seized the Monarch, there was no way his family would be spared. Away he went running leading Mirana's spooked steed behind him. Stayne breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Mirana escaping safely. It lasted for only a moment, however, as he saw a young child- a girl of maybe ten years- fall to the ground trying to flee. She screamed in terror as the Jabberwock came down upon her. "NO!" Stayne had yelled. She was only a child! They were after the Queen! Not the innocent Hightopps! But his cry of halt came to no avail as the Jabberwock let loose a fireball. He watched in horror as the little girl was set afire, she was writhing on the ground screaming in pain. Stayne shook his head. No, no. no. She jerked several more times; screams of the most horrific pain coming from her mouth. She had been dancing early no doubt around the hatpole. Now she danced among the flames that consumed her body. Stayne was about to jump off his horse to help her when he noticed that she had gone still. The scent of burning bodies filled his nostrils and he looked around to see Hightopps of various ages, heights, and sexes burning among the flames. Several ladies were trapped inside a house as it burned to the floor. Stayne stood in shock. There was nothing he could do. The Jabberwock arose, letting a primal scream erupt from its throat. It had failed the Queen, for it had not killed Mirana. He had no doubt weakened her, all her chessman lay dead, and it clutched the crown in its dreadful claws. Stayne watched as it flew away, heading back to the gates of Salazen Grum. A flash of light caught his eye and he say a sword stuck in the ground. Directing his horse over to fetch it, he noticed a badly singed top hat lying among the rubble. Its price, ten shillings and six pence, scribbled on a card that was stuck in its badly damaged salmon ribbon. Stayne's heart sank. It was the prized top hat of Tarrant Hightopp's father. It was the first hat he had ever made; he never had the heart to sell it. Turning his head away from the memento he closed the gap between the sword and himself. It was the infamous Vorpal blade, the one that the Champion had tried to defeat the Jabberwock with. Stayne could see the valiant hero had failed as he looked at his charred remains in remorse. It was over; he yanked the weapon from the earth, holding it high. The horse reared in victory, but Stayne's face fell in defeat. The Underland he once knew was never going to be the same. Iracebeth had destroyed it. The horse began to gallop away, only to be spooked by something moving in the bushes. Stayne had brought the horse up, just in time to see Thackery stumble out. The Hightopps had been good friends with his family- the Earwhickets. The clan of rabbits lived just over the hill. Stayne observed that Thackery was covered in ashes, his hazel eyes were as wide as the saucers he placed his teacups on. He mumbled to himself in gibberish, limping forward in a dazed gaze. _

"_Aye, thar's nuthng lef'," He sobbed into his paws. "Thay took it ahl, thay lef' not ah thang," He began to laugh. The cackle disturbed Stayne greatly and he moved his horse forward. He tried to push the sound from his ears, but Earwhicket's laugh was too great. On the way back through the woods he encountered the charred remains of the Earwhicket borrow, the Jabberwock had destroyed all in its path. Its rage had overcome it and not a single hare was left. Stayne closed his eyes. Innocent children, innocent hares, would nothing be spared? As he travelled through the woods he heard a stick break, causing him to look over. There stood Tarrant Hightopp, his once tamed red hair was slightly ruffled and his face was taught. He hadn't seen the damage yet done, but Stayne knew that he must have sensed there was nothing left. The milliner looked over to the Knave, a furious expression in his dead green eyes._

"_You could have stopped this," He accused the Knave in a disconnected voice. Stayne had hung his head, proving yet again what a coward he was that day, and sent his horse thundering forward._

_The Jabberwock had done great damaged to the denizens of Underland; Iracebeth had taken the throne over. The once white headpiece became a crimson shade of red as it was placed on the cruel looking woman's enormous head. She giggled in glee and placed her hand in front of Stayne's face, ordering him to kiss it._

"_I'm the one in charge now, I'm the one who can order others around," She seethed. "And you are all mine, my dearest Knave. You don't have a choice." _

I felt his foot move which pulled him from his painful memories. I realized it was from the trap, something was playing in it. I quickly yanked his foot toward myself and the unmistakable sound of grunting came from the noose. I hurried to the end to find that I had caught a curious pig; it was bright green and looked rather hungry. It wasn't as big as I had hoped but it was food nonetheless. Quickly, I pulled the noose tightly around the pig's throat, cutting oxygen supply to the animal. It squirmed, tried to squeal, and bucked but I held tight. After a Time the pig lay still and I smiled in achievement. I dragged dinner back to the fire. I would try his best to gut the animal with my flint stone that I had kept in my bag in case the matches had become wet. In the morning, I would enjoy some bacon. Then I'd give a nice raw slab to Iracebeth. She could figure out how to cook all on her own. I wasn't her slave anymore, let her starve. It would begin to make up for what had happened on that heart wrenching day if I was able to see the woman who commanded it suffer and starve.


	5. Of Momeraths and Toves

_Now dear, readers, I hate to interrupt the tale of the Knave of Hearts, the fragments in which it is being told in anyways, but I must confess. As you go on in this tale you may notice that I, the author, talk almost disconnectedly about myself as if I am having an out of body experience. I say with much regret that there are two Staynes in this story. There is the Knave of Courage and the Knave of Fools. The Knave of Fools is someone I wish I never had become. He could have prevented so much, but his cowardice kept him from standing up and doing what needed to be done. I will do my best to not confuse you with myself and my antagonist. It would be dishonest to say that we are one in the same; it is disgraceful to think that I let them possess the same body for so long. But you will learn more, dear reader, as you delve into the disheartening tale- that is if you possess the courage and not the cowardice to make the right decision._

_**FLASHBACK**_

I had been mesmerized with Mirana ever since she had stamped upon my foot like that. She had always shown herself to be much tougher than what she appeared. Mirana was also extremely intelligent; ranking the highest in her grade level. The only girl who was several steps more intelligent was Mirana and Iracebeth's older sister Lily. The eldest princess was a tall, graceful sort of girl who didn't walk on earth but floated. She was born to become Queen of Underland, the highest title a monarch could have at the time. Many of the Dukes and Princes of the Red, Purple, Vorpal, and Aureolin courts had made fools of themselves, trying to convince the beautiful young princess to fall in love with them. Lily seemed impervious to their remarks and spent a good deal of her time in the villages outside of the palace gates. She had befriended many of the families that worked in the palace as well as families that worked hard in the industries that caused the Kingdoms to succeed. She had become especially close with Aileen Hightopp, the eldest girl in the clan's head family. The patriarch of the Hightopps had been placed in the position of royal hatter not long after Lily began wandering the villages. She claimed that each industry of the kingdom should have a voice in the court. She had successfully petitioned her parents, the King and Queen of White, to appoint a family to become the voice for each industry. She had also voiced her opinion that the Hightopps became the face of the Millinery industry. Many were impressed with Lily's beyond her year's insight. People whispered that no other person in all of Underland would ever have the young girl's insight. I knew this wasn't true. He had watched Mirana in school and knew that she had the same foresight as her sister. Though she would never be as pure as Lily no matter how the younger sister tried. Iracebeth remained the outsider of the family; she wasn't charismatic, never able to give eye contact, her lip often turned into pouts when she didn't get her way. Iracebeth was only a year older than Mirana which meant she had to compete with Mirana in everything. Naturally, the blonde haired child surpassed her socially awkward sister.

I reveled in Iracebeth's inadequacy; she was the easiest to pick on in the class because she was so very obstinate and overreacted to all my insults. Lily had tried to defend her younger sister, but being nearly five years older she often was swept into a different crowd. This left Mirana as sole protector of the red headed, ill tempered Iracebeth. After the incident with the firefly this left this young lad in a predicament. I found Mirana intriguing; something in me wanted to become good friends with the young princess. We saw each other often in the castle, my parents were knaves after all; servants of the King and Queen themselves. I would have to give up my torment of Iracebeth to do so, though. I had rejected this idea for a couple years continuing in my torment of Iracebeth but watched with interest the fair featured queen from a distance.

All that had changed when I turned fourteen and suddenly girls became something of interest. Mirana of Marmoreal the most interesting of all. She was now ten years old, she was beginning to lose the childish fat of her feature as her face became began to take a more sleek and womanly shape. She was going to become a uniquely beautiful woman; much of the grace that the sixteen year old Lily possessed. When the time was nearing for the annual Marmoreal ball of masks I knew that I wanted to have Mirana by my side, attending. It was extremely shallow, I must be honest, but that was when all torment of Iracebeth stopped. Everyone noticed, especially the young red head who no longer hid in her chambers when my brothers and I were about the castle making minor repairs under the watch of our father. Everyone seemed relieved that I had stopped all these "childish insults" and ceased the "juvenile behavior". Everyone except for Mirana, the one I was trying to impress!

It was rainy afternoon and I was sitting in one of the servant corridors, trying to get some reading done. I had received a stern lecture from my mother that if I did not do better in school than there was absolutely no way in Underland that I was going to have fun at that ball. 'If you choose to have fun at other times when you should be working, Loosey, you are going to have suffer when times for fun come and you have to work'. She would say in her matronly voice. Often times I simply gave her lip service respect and rolled my eyes as I walked away.

I had decided now to heed the advice of my wise mother and try to get some studying done. I was trying my best to figure out what exactly a rath was and why in the world they wanted to gyre and gimble. Or what it was they were to do. I didn't pay much attention in that class. Mirana was in that class, her studiousness paying off, and I spent the hour dreaming of what it would be like to ask the fair maiden to the ball. Now I was paying direly. We had a class exam tomorrow and I'd be the idiot servant kid that was called to the front and couldn't explain what it was that raths did.

"Whatever a rath is. And whatever is it that possess them to gyre and gimble."

"Raths outgrabe, toves gyre and gimble." A melodic voice interrupted my thoughts. "And a rath is a green swine." I jerked my head up out of the scroll and met eyes with Mirana.

"Mirana, what are you doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"I came to speak with you Ilosovic." She said with a seriousness lying in the song of her words.

"Oh, really?" My heart beat a little bit faster. Mirana wanted to speak to _me_? Perhaps this plan was going to go more smoothly than I had originally had imagined.

"Indeed," She sat on the floor next to me. "I am extremely curious as to why you have decided to become Mr. Nice Knave to Racey all of a sudden."

"Is there a problem with that?" Her cold demeanor confused me. She always protected her little sister from the big bad Stayne, so that now that I stopped she was upset?

"No, I do not have a complaint against you stopping the harassment of my sister." She answered fluidly. "I just am more interested in the why. You have tormented her since I can remember. Then, out of the blue, Ilosovich Stayne has a vision."

"You're mocking me. And isn't it enough that I stopped?" I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of her.

"But if you didn't stop because you had a change of heart you'll just be up to your antics before long. I know you, Ilosovich. You'll do whatever you can to get a laugh from the crowd, to get approval." She looked at her feet as she said this. I felt my cheeks flush a deep red.

"I-I-I just really realized how badly I was hurting Iracebeth." I sputtered out.

"Mmmm, what led you to this revelation?" She questioned in an even tone.

"Uh, uh," I sputtered.

"Oh is there something that you need to get off your chest, Stayne?" She asked with harshness. I was so very trapped by her. She smelled beautiful, it was a mix of roses and fresh air, a relaxing scent. I shut my eyes. "I've noticed you staring at me, Ilosovich." She said coldly. "And I don't think that I like it." I nervously began fiddling with the pages on my book. "Did you really think me to be that stupid?"

"No, no not at all, Mirana." I gulped. "I think you are a very smart girl. I just, I wanted to be your friend."

"Because I am a princess?"

"No! Will you stop analyzing me? I am not one of these creatures in your textbook that you can memorize and spit back out to the teacher." I growled. She was starting to get on my nerves, even with all her prettiness.

"Fair is fair." She nodded her blonde hair that was in pigtails resting on her collarbones. She wore a powder blue dress that was intricately beaded with small, clear crystals. A small tiara rested on her head. "Why, then, Ilosovic, do you wish to be my friend? This is your trial, choose your words carefully."

"You are a very smart young woman. I think people don't give you enough credit. They see you as the spoiled youngest princess yet you have the heart of a bird and the courage of a lion. I mean, you did stamp on _my_ foot after all and I was over six feet at the time." I smiled at how short I had been at my twelfth year of life. I had grown another half a foot since then. I looked over at Mirana and was pleased to see a hint of blush covering her pale cheeks.

"You proved yourself almost honest on the trial. Now are you sure there aren't any other reasons you're harboring for your sudden niceness?" She asked with accusation. I was defeated. She was able to see right through me and she knew that I wasn't telling the whole truth. That was what Mirana possessed even when she was younger, uncanny foresight about people.

"I quite possibly wanted to ask you to the ball as well."

"Oh really?" She asked with mock surprise.

"You can stop mocking me." I said with anger. "But I won't be getting to any ball if I can't get my silly grades up."

"Yes, I suppose that not getting those slithy toves down pat in order for the test tomorrow will mean you'll get a bad mark."

"And most likely a call home." I muttered.

"You pay attention in class, I've seen you." Mirana blushed an even deeper shade of red and shook her head. "That is to say that I have glanced behind and you seem to be very attentive."

"Yeah," I lied. I was looking at her half the time. "I don't do well with this book stuff." I rolled the scroll up and firmly placed it on the ground for emphasis. The wooden handles hit the stone with a click, echoing through the hall.

"Hmmm, perhaps I could help you?" She said hesitantly. "You will work hard, won't you? You won't just cheat off of me?"

"No. Honest to Time Mirana, I just am much better at things with my hands." I looked at my rough hands that were better at making, building, fixing, fighting. "When it comes to books all I can do is sit there and sit there. It's too much."

"I know," She said gently. "I will tutor you. I could use the extra studying anyways. I think I know a way to help you learn better, it's something I've been learning in my Potions and Magics class." She smiled. "We can at least increase your chances of going to the ball by giving your marks a boost." My heart began to beat at the thought of being able to go to Underland's great ball as an official courtier- no longer under the wing of my parents.

"Does that mean you will go with me then?" I asked my mouth dry with anticipation.

"I didn't say that increasing your marks would increase your chances. And I think it's pretty low that you stopped picking on Iracebeth merely to impress me." She said with disdain. I groaned; I should have known she would see right through it.

"However, if you prove yourself a boy willing to change I may perhaps be willing to change my mind. But I can promise that we are now friends. So you have on wish fulfilled." She extended her pale white palm out to mine. I took it in a shake of agreement with a smile. It wasn't the perfect plan but it was a lot closer than I had ever been before.


	6. Banishment

Iracebeth's sniffles awoke me from a light sleep. I hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep; I must have been exhausted from wandering the day before. Iracebeth had surprising remade the fire and was fry one of the meat strips on a rock. I looked on with surprise. She poked at it slightly with a thin branch she must have pulled from the fire, her dark eyes focusing on the cooking meat. Every so often she would wipe a tear from her eye. As I sat up I disturbed some rocks that made a light sound. She turned around in fear and her stick rose above her head.

"Calm down, Iracebeth," I raised my hands above my head in defense. She lowered the stick, the chain clinking as it was set upon the earth.

"You have quite the impressive cooking abilities." I remarked, looking on as she pulled the strips off the rock.

"Lily-" She stopped talking for a moment and swallowed hard. "Lily did teach me a thing or two. I am not stupid, Stayne."

"Just spoiled," I murmured. She shot me a look of anger.

"I worked hard to get what I wanted."

"Even though it meant killing people to get there?"

"Your hands are not clean from blood either, Ilosovic." She hissed then daintily took a bit of the bacon. "Reminds me of the Duchess' son. He wasn't as gentle a meat however." She said as she savored the food. I was struck silent by Iracebeth's comment. _How many people have I harmed who have gotten in my way?_

"We need to get moving soon, with luck we will find a place to rest for the afternoon that isn't in the intense heat."

"If we head east we will make our way toward Ipalm." She said, chewing over the bacon.

"Your spontaneous intelligence is quite impressive, Iracebeth. Now where was it when you challenged your Jabberwock to that muchy Alice girl?" I glared at her. "We should head South toward the mountains-"

"They're north west." She interrupted. I raised my hand back aiming to strike her but I couldn't. As much as I hated her, as much as she ruined my life, and even though she started the collapse of Mirana and my relationship she was still a helpless woman. Striking her would go strictly against my code.

"I don't think that we should be heading back toward Marmoreal or any civilization for that matter." I answered.

"I am not going to live my life as a fugitive living in caves and using bushes as my toilet." She scowled. "I will cut a deal with my sister-"

"With what, Iracebeth? You have nothing left! You have no crown, no dignity. When are you going to get it through your bulbous head that you are as insignificant as a bread and butter fly?" I began to walk off rapidly toward the west.

"What are you going to do, Stayne? You know nothing about the Outlands because you never had any reason to. But then again how many studies in school did you fail?" She laughed. "Oh that's right…little Mirana helped you out didn't she? Your little TWIT!" She cried. Stayne stopped.

"Fine, we shall go east. We shall Ipalm. I have nothing left either because of you and your slurvish nature, my Beautiful Red Queen," He sputtered the title sarcastically. "If I die, fine. Everything within me is as barren as this desert as well."

"Oh, do shut up. Your complaining is rather irritating."

"Not as much as your voice." **He** yanked her forward. She fell silent toward me but I could hear her mumble to herself. I had to be careful, if I did not control my anger **he** would slip out. The coward within me. The one who had chased Mirana away.

Oh Mirana.

_It was over. He knew it was all over. The Hatter stood over me with his sword raised and burning anger in his orange eyes. I was able to gain control, to realize it was better to accept defeat and possibly be spared. I held my hands up to my shoulders, signaling surrender. The war was over and I was facing Tarrant's madness. One that was absolutely terrifying when released. I met his eyes, fear ringing in mine no doubt. _

_That was when the thump came. _

_It was on my right and both of us paused in our battle to look over. There lay the Jabberwock's head, purple blood drained from its gory stump. Looking up there stood the Champion, standing triumphantly with sword in hand. Of course the irritating little brat had won. She was The Alice, the one that had managed to trump the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts, Iracebeth herself. It was only time before she would return, bringing Iracebeth to her knees once and for all. I glanced back to Tarrant, bracing to be slaughtered. This man obviously cared deeply for Alice who had just slayed her worst enemy. Certainly it was time for him to slay his. I closed his eyes, waiting to see the white light that so many soldiers had spoken about. But instead the clanging of metal echoed through my ears. _

_Reopening my eyes I saw that Tarrant had dropped his weapon, was now stepping backwards. I wasn't dead after all; the merciful milliner had let me live. I staggered upward as Mirana strode forth. She had become the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and I mourned that I couldn't call her mine still. The danger of her temper was written in her features. The sharp angle of the crook of her arm, the way she held her dainty hands, the cross in her dark eyebrows. Her chin tilted upward as she finally was able to look down upon Iracebeth._

"_Iracebeth of Crims," The danger was even in her voice. I could hear Iracebeth gulp in fear. "Your crimes against Underland are worthy of death." Impossible! She couldn't kill Iracebeth, not since she took those foolish vows after Lily was-"However," She interrupted my thoughts. "that is against my vows. Therefore you are banished to the Outlands." _

_A punishment more horrible than death itself. Nothing was out there. Few creatures, little water, just lots and lots of desert sand. Unless one reached the mountains where they were to face dangerous cliff faces and frigid temperatures once they reached the peak. Iracebeth wouldn't be able to survive a day in the hostile environment. Even I had to admit that I might last maybe a week._

"_No one is to show you any kindness or even speak a word to you. You will have not a friend in the world." I saw Iracebeth's heart dropped. Mirana knew her sister only too well. A punishment of death would have been more bearable than this. Iracebeth's whole life had been about finding friends and keeping the, She had never been more lonely than she was in her grade school years when no one spoke to her. How cruel it was to sentence her to more of that. Then again how cruel had Iracebeth been to the now headless people that dared make a mistake in her presence. She was going to be let down no matter how much she wanted to deny it. They were after all completely Underland. And insanely mad. I gulped; perhaps Mirana would remember how much I had cared for her. How much I could change! She had seen me once._

_But after Lily's accident, she had never bothered to try to look for it again. _

_I wanted to try anyways, in hope that she still loved me as much as I loved her. My heart never stopped beating for her no matter what had happen in Time's Past. "Majesty,"_

_Mirana, my love-_

_I resisted the urge to use her name. "I hope you bear me no ill will." My mother taught me when I was a lad that angering a woman as the worst possible thing that a man could do. It came to life here before my eyes. She looked at me with such disdain and hate that my heart constricted. She didn't love me still, did she? She glared at me and all that could come to my mind was my mother's voice. 'Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned'. She had told me. _

_I saw that in my Mirana's eyes. No, she was no longer my Mirana. She was the White Queen of Marmoreal who was a lot more dangerous than she appeared. _

"_Except this one Ilosovic Stayne, you are to join Iracebeth in the Outlands from this day until the End of Underland." NO! No! My head screamed. Mirana please take me back, I wanted to beg. Please listen to me. I am sorry for all I've done. It wasn't me anymore though. It wasn't your Vic. It was Him. The one that snuck out the day that it all happened! I am so sorry Mirana; let me be a Knave of White once again. Let me prove myself._

_But like the sniveling coward I was all I could do was back away. Iracebeth looked up with her big brown eyes, the ones that had angered me for years. The ones that watched me perform the most horrendous acts to please HER! Or else those big brown eyes would watch me die. And then those pert little lips whispered "At least we have each other." _

_I let him take over. One last time. I wouldn't be able to win back my Mirana, it was over. He raised his dagger, ready to drive it into Iracebeth's tiny neck. He would slice her vein and then perhaps he would then kill himself._

_A hat pin, however, interrupted the plan as it flew into the curve of his gloved hand. He dropped his dagger. I needed to return, the way Mirana flashed sympathy in her eyes. She could do me one final favor._

"_Majesty, please, kill me!" I begged as Iracebeth whined as we were dragged away. I couldn't even hear her wretched voice as Mirana turned to me coldly, her dark lips parting to answer. _

"_I do not owe you a kindness." _

_My heart died then. It was over. I had truly lost everything that day. _

I walked in morning heat lost in my thoughts when Iracebeth cried out.

"They didn't leave us that far from Ipalm! Look ahead, I see a cluster of trees in the middle of the desert. No doubt the city is a day or two away." She was much more intelligent that she led other's on to be. It was all those years of not needing to think, she must have slipped into complacency.

"We still have nothing left." I muttered. We didn't have a home; we didn't even have our hearts. We were dead in Underland's eyes.

"Mirana and I are blood, we are sisters."

"So were you and Lily."

"I was a stupid girl then, leave the past be. I am sure Mirana has." Iracebeth strode forward. "Too kind for her own good that one!"

"No, no she hasn't." I responded weakly but went after the large headed woman none the less.

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><p><strong>Thanks Ranguvar27 for all the reviews you've given to me, they mean a lot!<strong>

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	7. I Don't Follow the Rules

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews I have gotten so far. I am glad to see that people are enjoying this story. Thanks especially to Rang who has given me much encouragement about this story. I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint.**

**And just so you guys know...there's a forum for AiW writers. If you need a challenge or want to suggest a story idea please head over to the forums section of FFN (look at the gray bar above...Home...Just In...Communities...Forums (click this) then movies. Then Alice in Wonderland 2010! The forum is called Alice in Wonderland Writing Challenges.) Stop on in, introduce yourself, and start writing or suggesting**

**That's all for now and I bet you all are cheering now that I've shut up.**

**Back to Stayne**

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><p>It was a suicide mission from the beginning. Why Iracebeth didn't remember that no one was to speak to us, I will never figure out. I led the way however, there was no reason not to wander in one direction. As soon as she got it through that slurvish skull of hers that we were Jubb Jubb bird meat then we could stop this nonsense of seeing Mirana. Mirana would never forgive Iracebeth; forgiveness from Mirana was becoming harder to come by. When Lily had died bitterness in the White Princesses had settled. Iracebeth had become angry at all those who didn't do what she told them to, Mirana harbored a much deeper set rage was aimed at Iracebeth and Stayne wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't against the whole world for allowing to happen what had passed. It was something that neither sister would be able to remove completely, but each could learn to cope.<p>

I knew that I played a part in the women's wraths toward the world. Lily's accident was the first time I realized that coward within me. It haunted me in nightmares most nights, leading to my habit of few hours of sleep. The nights that were dreamless were few and much appreciated. I understand now, why Alice seemed so very tired all the time. When nightmares haunt one for years they find that lying awake and alone is a lot more comforting then entering the realm where you remind yourself what was and what could have been.

I had suffered a nightmare the evening we rested on our way to Ipalm, leaving me exhausted and irritable the next day. Thankfully, Iracebeth was wise enough to stay quiet for the morning. We walked together for hours; the sun was rising to its apex before we finally arrived at a quaint out of the way town. Two small children were drawing with sticks in the sand; their grubby faces looked up to the two of us entering the village. The smallest of the pair, a young boy with dark blonde hair, began to back away in terror. I suppose thinking about it we were a sight to see. I was a sweaty, sour Knave over seven feet tall chained to a large headed woman whose make up was running off due to the heat of the sun. The older, a girl with black plaits, glared at the two of us.

"Be gone, spirits!" She screamed, yanking the stick from the boy's hand. She began to clash them together. Iracebeth looked at me with confusion. I had to shrug at her. "Be gone, haunt our village not more!"

"We aren't spirits, you little twit." Iracebeth responded, stepping forth. The girl began to shake. A woman, well into her pregnancy came rushing out to the young children.

"Terra, Rod, come inside immediately." She scolded, grabbing the girl by her skinny arm. Terra, the female, dropped her sticks and hastened with her mother. Rod was grabbed by the wrist and dragged along by the two women. Iracebeth's bottom lip puffed out.

"Hospitality needs to be taught around here."

"Perhaps you have forgotten, Iracebeth, that we are pariahs in our land."

"Not everyone follows the rules," She rolled her eyes upwards toward me. "Or have _you_ forgotten the resistance that brought us down. Or rather me, for you never had enough skin to be on anybody's side did you Ilosovic?" She scowled. I felt the slap of her words but rolled my eye at her.

"You two shouldn't be around here, you know." A voice came from one behind us. Both Iracebeth and I turned only to gasp in shock.

She was tall for a woman, with long muscular legs. She wore not a dress but tight brown pants, a long gray tunic covered her tan skin. Her brown hair was cropped short, cut at all sorts of odd angles. It was apparent that she cut it herself. Her gray eyes were hard and kept a firm grasp on me, while her small mouth was kept pursued. She held in one hand a bow, arrows being kept on her back. Her face was filled with dirt and I noticed her clothes looked as if they hadn't been laundered in days. "You know that we're forbidden to speak with you."

"I told you Stayne that some people didn't listen to the rules." Iracebeth glared at the girl. I smiled at her sarcasm.

"I don't listen to other people's rules." Her voice was low and raspy, almost as if she was constantly threatening people off.

"That's apparent to us already," I laughed looking at her masculine clothing choices.

"You don't do yourself a favor mocking me, Knave." She stalked toward us.

"We weren't asking for favors." I smiled. "However, if you would like to do us one, we certainly could use that food. And since the arrow you have there is certainly not for any type of war (and I certainly hope you had no intention of that) I assume you're out hunting quite a lot."

"I don't like assumptions and I don't like talking to strangers."

"Funny you keep speaking of things you don't like or that we shouldn't do and yet here you are doing them." Iracebeth laughed. She and I had created our system of getting information of people; we were in full use of it here.

"What is your name, girl?"

"Fae, Fae Sagittaria." She looked at me banefully.

"Well, Fae, seeming as you already know who we are." I smirked. "I see no need for us to introduce ourselves."

"You're supposed to be in the Outlands- or dead."

"Well seeing as I stand before you alive and well you have a decision to make, don't you little nymph?" I took a step toward her. She reached for a belt that was bound about her waist. It had a small dagger pocket attached to it. "There is no need for violence." I was a man of the military; I could easily take the skinny, untrained brat down with my bare hands. The dagger, clearly dulled by skinning, would give her minimal advantage.

"Put the knife away, child." Iracebeth laughed. "It's of no use; we aren't here to harm you."

"I've heard plenty about how you cut off well meaning people's head." She said, her gruff voice shaking.

"Does it look like I have any chopping blocks around here for it? Besides, I have no need for your head. You've yet to make me mad, though you are testing my patience." She threatened. I rolled my eyes, she could go for the girl's head all she wanted but I didn't want any more bloodshed on my hands especially if we were going to see Mirana.

"Why did you come back?" The girl startled both of us with a question as she lowered her hand from the dagger.

"What?" Iracebeth questioned.

"Why did you risk coming among the people you so violated with nothing to protect yourself?" She pointed out. "That is suicide."

"We are going to see Mirana, there are many things my sister and I need to resolve," Iracebeth smiled.

"Why are you going back?" She glared at me. I held up my chained hand to signify that I didn't really have much of a choice. She glowered at me.

"What if I could open that for you?" She questioned.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I have had to pick many a lock to survive. What if I were able to get that open for you?" She looked at me with suspicion.

"Why would you want to separate us, we could only harm you in the end."

"Because I know what it's like to live alone and death is a much better alternative." The girl answered, advancing toward us. Both Iracebeth and I backed off unsure of what she was going to do. She pulled the dagger from its sheath and held it up.

"Let me just fiddle with the lock, I'll get you out. I promise. If you kill me it won't matter anyways." The girl shrugged. "You'll just be ridding this town of its ghost."


	8. Beginning of Lies

Mirana had been a faithful study partner. She and I met in the courtyard underneath the pink Weeping Trees or in the great hall on the days that it rained. She was a good teacher as well, able to bring the things to life out of the books. And when I mean to life I mean literally.

She was advancing in her classes on Magicks and Potions, each day she got a little better. She would practice by looking into the books and having the words come to life. From there she was able to conjure up a paper borogrove and teach me the difference between that and a rath. She was the miracle that my mother always prayed for; because of Mirana my grades began to improve tremendously. The teachers couldn't figure out how to take this because they were all very pleased at my increasing notes but at the same time intrigued at how it also seemed to keep me out of trouble. A new seriousness about my studies came about me. It was good timing as well because I was entered the year in my life in which I had long been awaiting. It was the year that I could be considered for the White Army. My hard work was noted and I had been contacted. The general was interested in me, noticed my natural ability in our Weapons and Combat class and wanted to recruit me. I was extremely excited and eagerly told Mirana the news. She congratulated me with a chaste kiss (in which I had blushed) and said she always knew I could do it.

I had always wanted to be a member of the White Army, fighting side by side next to the brave Knights and Rooks that fought to defend the castle. After battles, the White Queen would hold a celebration for the entire nation that began with a procession. The gates to Marmoreal would be thrown open and the successful White Army would parade through the towns outside of Marmoreal, across the drawbridge, and into the castle itself. They walked along the white brick path until they reached the steps of Marmoreal. The White King would lead the army the entire way and would be greeted by his Queen and whatever children they had, at the steps of the palace. The earliest time I had remember this was when the Bandersnatches had begun their revolt against the White Kingdom. They were angry at having a restriction on their land, given to them by the farmers who grew the food for the Kingdom. They had begun attacking the innocent laborers and the White Army had been dispatched to teach the creatures their lessons. The White King, Barek, had led the White Army into the furthest parts of the Tugley Wood which bordered Ipalm. Within days they had calmed the enemy and established a treaty between the beasts and the farmers. Barek had led the way gallantly into the city, he on the most beautiful of white horses. His infantry followed behind. Four rows of an intimidating, stomping, brute force. The four lines of the Calvary followed behind. They looked majestic on their shining white steeds. I had lusted after their abilities and their positions since that moment.

I watched as Barek led his horse up to the steps. He then gently dismounted his steed, giving him a pat on the muzzles and slipping him a small treat. He then ascended the stairs of Marmoreal where Lily, Iracebeth, and a small Mirana greeted their father with hugs and kisses. He kneeled to greet the three and then stood to kiss his wife, Alastair, on the mouth. The Queen's deep blue eyes sparkled with joy at her reunited family. Barek then grabbed his brood in for a family hug. The kingdom had cheered at this home coming.

It was then that I knew I wanted to be that brave knight coming home from war.

It was only after I had seen Mirana a couple years later that my goal was set higher- I wanted to be that King that rode home to his fair wife. I wanted to come back to have Mirana kiss me a welcome. And this was what I was replaying in my mind over and over again.

"What are you thinking about?" A voice had interrupted my thinking. I looked up from the book I was supposed to be studying for the exam tomorrow- Mirana was going to quiz me on it later that evening- but my mind had drifted off into daydreaming once again. They were usually the same; I was a strong, handsome, fierce warrior who courageously fought off the enemy as they neared Marmoreal, returning to castle (as I have told you) and receiving the kiss from my Mirana. I felt my cheeks burning hot as I rethought about what I was thinking.

"I am studying the various fauna and fungi found in the Tugley Woods." I said too quickly. Her thicker eyebrows raised in doubt. She had a much more lifelike color when the white powdered and creams weren't applied to her face. Her eyebrows were left where they should be, a light blonde color above her deep brown eyes. She looked more human aside from her bulbous skull.

"I think you're just trying to woo Mirana." She placed her hands on her hips.

"Do you even know what that means?" I scoffed. She shot me a scowl.

"I do! I am not stupid, Stayne." She insisted. "And I know that you aren't nice to me just because you've had a change of heart." She glared at me.

My pulse was racing. She couldn't know that I was doing it to impress Mirana; even if Mirana herself knew. She would begin to whisper lies in her sister's ear no doubt. Then I would certainly never be able to consider Mirana as my date to the ball and especially not my future Queen. It started then, all of the problems I would later face with this woman thinking that I loved her. It began with the lie I was about to let pass my lips.

"Of course not, Iracebeth, don't insult me." I said sweetly. She cocked her head in confusion.

"You mean you truly want to be nice to me?" She asked, her eyes growing wider. I felt sick to my stomach. If I could have thrown her out the window then and there I would have.

"You are one of the smartest girl's in school, Racey," I said with a sick smile, a glint in my dark eyes. "And you are certainly very pretty. All that fiery red hair," She blushed as she patted the bottom of her mound of locks with her hand.

"It is a rather nice shade of red isn't it? Not like that Tarrant Hightopp fellow." She rolled her eyes. "He wants to ask my sister to the ball."

"Oh?" I asked. The little monster had my attention now. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he wants to escort her to the ball you dolt!" She rolled her brown eyes. "And you were the one doubting my intelligence."

"I guess I didn't pay much attention to him," I said shaking my head. He was the middle child of the Hightopp clan, he and Mirana were a year apart and they had become good friends. His family was much closer with the Royals- they did outfit the entire family after all.

"How does Mirana feel about him?" I was getting nervous about Tarrant. Mirana was comfortable with him in ways I didn't think she would ever have with me. They had been close for years and I had only just been getting to know the blossoming beauty.

"What do I look like? Her personal diary?" She snapped. "Why don't you ask her when you have you special little study time?" She moped.

"Iracebeth, you look stunning today, you know that right?" I said, trying to get her from pouting. She was dressed in a deep blue dress with red trimming, black and white vertical stripes lined the bottom fourth of her skirt. It was Hightopp design, extremely detailed and stunningly vivid. She blushed again.

"You know, Stayne, I am older than my sister." She said with a shy smile. "And no one is escorting me to the Ball." She batted her long eyelashes.

"I'll have to keep that in mind." I lied. I was more curious about Tarrant and Mirana. And if that milliner's son was winning that Princess' heart, I was going to have to kick the young man's rear end behind the stables. I was working hard to win Mirana's heart and he wasn't going to hold her heart because he could sew a wonderful dress. Mirana needed me; she needed a King that could protect that land. I was only more determined at this moment to make it into the Army; I was going to prove to Mirana that I was not only smart enough to stand by her side but that I would be able to protect her no matter what would happen.


	9. Nightmares

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I am appreciating the new reviewers who have taken a liking to this story. Also, remember, if you haven't reviewed yet you can start now :) Reviews are extremely helpful. **

**Shout out to Rang for all her reviewing and her explanations and viewpoints on Stayne **

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><p><em>There Racey was again standing in front of the Jabberwock like a fool. <em>

'_No, Racey!' Mirana cried lunging forward, but I held her back. _

_I held her back from saving her sister, what was I becoming? My heart was racing but I knew one thing, I wanted Mirana to be safe, I wanted her to be with me. But I was holding her back from her sister, who we were about to watch die. Then She came. And it was going to happen all over again. The trading, the sacrifice, the blood that covered the cheeks and hands of our childish bodies; she would be gone, never coming back._

_I lost my eye that day. And the coward was born, in those woods of Tugley's._

I jolted awake in my sleep, my hand quickly searching the socket of my lost eye. No, there was no blood, it was not there. The scars in the trench had long been healed over. But the scars in my memory were only being reopened.

My heart was racing as I sat up in the midst of the Tugley Woods; every moment I spent here I was only reminded of what had happened, what had been. I wanted to leave the woods in order to forget but they always seemed to beckon me back into its depths. It didn't want me to forget what I had caused or what had happened. It wanted me to remember for the rest of my life, as if my eye was not enough payment.

There was a fire a few feet from me, night had set and our new found acquaintance showed great knowledge in survival. She carried around a tinderbox in the belt about her waist and quickly went to setting up camp for the night when the Underlandian sun was setting. Iracebeth had found some lush grass in an opening in the trees where she rested her weary body and fell asleep. Her small frame was becoming gaunt from lack of food and abundance of movement and her shoulders seemed more broad than they usually were. Her dress was ruined and Fae had offered to help her snatch a new one in the next town. Apparently our little vagabond friend was also a very cunning thief. She kept most secrets to herself, which I much preferred. No sense in talking about what couldn't be changed to a total stranger.

Glancing over to the fire now I realized she was still awake, poking at the fire with a large stick. She had her knees bent and was resting her left arm upon them, her chin upon her forearm. Her gray eyes were now illuminated by the orange and red flickering flame, they studied its dance among the logs but one would see that she wasn't looking at the fire if they studied her. She was looking through it. I had seen this look before; how many times had I myself worn it in remembering. I sat up and disturb some of my surrounding which caused her to jerk her head up.

"You're awake," She spoke and gently set her knees down, crossing her legs in front of her body. "You've been over there for some while screaming about saving someone. 'Save her!' I thought you'd never wake up, it looked as if you've been trapped in your dream."

"People don't get trapped in their dreams," I shook my head at such nonsense. "It wasn't a dream anyways. It was a memory." I couldn't believe I had spoken to her but as I looked into her eyes it was as if the words came out. She quickly glanced away.

"Memories of the bad always seem to haunt while dreaming of times of bliss always seem to flee." She said mysteriously. I chuckled at her.

"A regular old Saganistute," I laughed at her. She was acting like a complete fool sitting her at such a young age and talking about ideas beyond her years. "Tell me what other types of wisdom you possess all knowing thief." I mocked her. She looked at me with those burning gray eyes and glared.

"Don't mock me, Stayne," She hissed. "You don't know where I come from and you don't know what I am capable of."

"That sounds like a very poor threat," I tsked at her poor attempt of intimidation, standing to my over seven foot tall height. Though I was rather spoiled; all I needed to do to intimidate was to rise up. She looked at me, however, without a glint of fear in her eye.

"I have learned to live in a wood filled with Bandersnatch and Jabberwock and you think I am afraid of an old Knave like you?" She laughed.

"Why don't you just run along home now to your mother?" I was growing quite irritated with the little brat.

"She's dead," She hissed. "She died in the Tugley Woods by the hands of a Jabberwock." She glared at me. "And I know what you did, Stayne." She hissed. "I know the Jabberwocks were never supposed to be in Tugley Woods but it was you and that idiot Queen of ours-" She paused in speech when I, in a furious rage, pulled her up by her arms and raised my hand to smack her. But again, I couldn't hit the young girl even if she were more like a feral animal.

"You do not speak of Mirana of Marmoreal like that," I warned her. Fae scowled at me.

"Why do you protect her? She betrayed you; she did, when she banished you to the Outlands. She betrayed you when she turned her back on you and her sister all those years ago." The girl spoke with knowledge of things far beyond her years.

"You snarl at Mirana yet you show great insight beyond your years just as she." I shook my head. This girl was going to use information as leverage; the less people knew about what occurred in these woods, the better it would be for both Mirana and I. Though Mirana gleaned much more than I from the silence.

"Why did you do it?" Fae looked at me, fury still burning in those gray eyes.

"It all started with a dance," I said, my memory trailing back. I looked to the girl who stared at me harshly. Her eyes, they told me that she was willing to listen. That she would hear and not judge. No secrets that entered her ears would pass through her lips. They charmed me into speaking. So I did. I was going to die in banishment and one ought to know the story. Or at least its beginnings.

"Mirana and I had been studying together for a long while," I began, smiling at the thought of good times with the beautiful Mirana. "I had asked her to attend the yearly Ball with me and she had teased me so- promising that if I were nice to that large headed tyrant over there ," I gestured to Iracebeth "She'd give more thought about going to the ball with me,"

"She went with you, didn't she?" Fae asked, her stormy eyes still holding my dark one captive.

"You seem to know the story, you guddler, why don't you tell it to me?" I snapped. She shook her head and gestured to the ground. She didn't take her eyes off my one eye as she smiled and replied.

"No, please forgive my inquisitive nature, let us sit and you can talk." She whispered. I didn't even remember sitting, I just did. Her words were something that I found myself wanting to obey though there really was no explanation as to why.

"I thought that my dearest dove was going to be attending with that fiery haired milliner's boy," I growled.

"The Mad Hatter," The girl nodded her head in understanding. "I've passed his tea tables once or twice. Stole a scone too, no one there to guard it. His head was always down as if someone had given him a strong draught." She thought aloud. I looked back to her with a laugh.

"One named Alice Kingsleigh had sure given him a strong draught, the brat of a child." I seethed.

"Brat? She is our Champion," She smiled at me. "She defeated the Great Jabberwock and freed most of the land from the….oh well I suppose I can see now why you would think she were a brat."

"She also got me into such trouble with Racey over there, that whole tart business," I shook my head. "Iracebeth has thought I've been in love with her since Mirana and I- well since our arrangement was broken. Because I was forced to go with her, a curse put on me by Mirana." I frowned.

"But that isn't the beginning that is the end!" The girl cried. "I want to know how it all happened."

"You are a very impatient listener, always interrupting," I shook my head and reached into the wood pile that Fae had collected in our sleep to grab a long stick. "May I see your dagger, if I am to begin telling you what has happened, I must have something to occupy myself with," I looked into her gray eyes. Slowly she reached into her pocket and extracted the dagger, handing it to me.

"Much better," I smiled and began to whittle away at the stick.

"You were telling the story about Mirana and the Mad Hatter, do continue!" Fae cried in impatience.

"First off, if one is fooled that Mirana is in love with Tarrant Hightopp as I have often heard whispered, they are completely senile." I laughed. My memory was hazy about the beginning, though being reminded of the aftermath in my dream had not helped my recall.

"Alright, Mirana and Tarrant aren't a couple. But what were they?" She asked, leaning forward. I began to whittle off large chunks of the stick, not looking at her. She was a Charmer; I had met a couple trying to get into the Army. She had a tongue of gold and could get anyone to do whatever she wanted by looking into their eyes and willing them to do so. As she had just done to me now. I had begun the story; however, I had to at least finish the first milestone.

"They were best friends. Tarrant never trusted me, however, and he didn't want Mirana going to the Ball with me." I replied, studying the long piece of wood. "We had begun spending so much time together and often school work leads to discussion. She found me a clever partner to speak with on matters that no one else wanted to hear. Truth is I didn't either," A smile crossed my lips as I confided in the young Fae. "But I am very good at listening when I want something."

"So I think Mirana had become just a smitten with me as I had with her. I had seen her true side; she was a genuinely caring person. Loving anything that came her way. She was a firm believer that things could be done to make anything better. It turns out we both had a duel reason for tutoring. I wanted to meet the pretty, feisty, spellbinding Mirana and she wanted to fix the class clown of Ilosovic Stayne. We both wound up realizing that we admired each other's strengths and understood the other's faults." I looked up to Fae. She was listening intently, hanging on my every word. This of course was beginning to fuel my ego. I was going to have a head as large as Iracebeth's if this girl hung onto my every word like I was some god telling her how I first made weapons. But I continued.

"She agreed to go with me. Her parents thought it was a cute adolescent stage she was going through; enjoying the attention of boy that was two years her senior and thinking she was in love with him. They trusted her daughter, after all, for she had shown years of wisdom beyond her age. She would grow out of this phase of being in love with a mere knave," I smiled.

"She didn't, did she?" The girl asked quietly.

"I don't know the answer to that one. I suppose after all that happened she wasn't as wise as everyone thought." I sighed. She had fallen in love with the King of Imprudent Dreams.

"I think Mirana was right," Fae smiled at me. "I can sense that deep inside there is someone who wants to be saved. But you were telling me about Mirana and you." She smiled.

"Yes, the ball…."


	10. Lessons in Love

_I remember what she looked like when she met me at the bottom of the Princess Quarter's stairs. She was wearing a large lavender ball gown (her favorite color had not always been white) which had large bow on the back, just above her rear. The sleeves were full and hung off her shapely shoulders and her pale skin was dappled pink as her whole body flushed in embarrassment._

"_Iloso, don't stare at me like that," She giggled nervously._

"_You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met," I finally was able to stumble out of my mid teen mouth. She giggled again into her hand and gently held her right one forward._

"_You may come and escort me down, my sir." She said as elegantly as she could between bursts of laughter._

_In a dream like trance I ascended the few stairs that separated me from the beauty and took her hand in my black gloved one. I kissed her hand gently and she gasped._

"_You are such a gentleman, my Knightly Knave," She smiled, pleased with her endearment for me. I smiled back up at her and nodded my head. _

"_Let us get to the ball, Princess," I smiled and gently helped her down the steps, folding her arm into mine as we walked down the large hall of Marmoreal. _

_I couldn't believe I had the Princess on my arm, I looked over at her and her dark eyes met mine. They were large and sparkling, shining in the candlelit corridor. I saw an emotion that I would later identify as adoration in her eyes. Her pale cheeks were pink as she was slightly overwhelmed with the idea of going to a ball with a man for the first time in her life. And her white hair was pulled away from her pretty face and curled. Her dark lips stretched in a smile as she nervously glanced to me again. _

"_I have been practicing my dancing all week." Mirana smiled before we entered the Great Hall. I froze. _

"_I don't know how to dance," I was now embarrassed as I looked to Mirana in fear. Her mouth had curved into a perfect circle but she shook her gently curled hair._

"_I will teach you a simple step," She smiled. "And we can just dance this over and over again all night long," She turned to face me, placing her hand on my left shoulder. I gulped nervously as that perfectly manicured hand was so near my neck, gently squeezing my shoulder. She then took my left hand and placed it on the slight curve of her hip. She was beginning to develop the body of a woman, her hips shifting outwards. She would later have the most delicious curves about her body but for now they were small and shy. I gulped, however, at my hand being so near to her. She smiled up at me and winked._

"_Relax." She commanded and I did so, letting go of the breath I didn't even realize I was holding. Then she pulled me forward and began to speak, telling me where to place my foot and where she would place hers. We could faintly hear the music being played in the other room and we danced in time. I was elated, there I was holding Mirana of Marmoreal in my Knave hands and she was smiling up at me, patient once again with my slow ability to grasp what would already be known by a prince. She leaned her head into my chest after I became more confident in the dance moves and I tensed in fear. She gripped my right hand tighter as we began to spin in circles, dancing about the corridor. _

"_I want to stay in this moment forever," She murmured and I sighed, the tension releasing from my body. "You are the only one I think I will ever love," She smiled up at me._

"_You are only thirteen, Mirana," I scolded and she shook her head._

"_But I know," She placed her curled locks against my chest once again. "I know that no matter what you choose Ilosovic, I will always love you,"_

"Did you ever get to the ball?" Fae asked aloud and I realized I had gone quiet.

"We were two hours late, the impromptu dance instruction took a little longer than expected." I shrugged.

"Did you promise your love to her?" Fae asked eagerly. She truly was forgetting that this was not a bedtime story with a happy ending. This was a real life story where someone died.

"This isn't a fairytale. There is no happily ever after. There never are. This is life not stories."

"But what about the Champion?" Fae cried.

"Do you really wish to be like Alice Kingsleigh who turned her back on the one she loved and who loved her?" I scoffed. "Love isn't strong enough to fix all things. It can't magically make all that you need to face disappear." I growled in anger. I loved Mirana still but I wasn't ever going to be able to hold her as I had in that dance at Marmoreal. As I had the night before we snuck away to try pretending we were older.

"Why did you doubt her? Why do you now?" Fae asked with tears in her eyes. "She can stop all of this- you can stop all of this." She said, rising to her feet and gesturing to the wood. "The Jabberwock need to stop attacking us."

"There is nothing that can be done. Mirana made a fool's promise when she was thirteen. She was never going to stick to it!" I cried.

"LIES!" Fae pounded her fist in the air. "If Alice can stand up to-"

"Stop looking upon the stupid Champion. She couldn't even figure out who she was when she was here."

"She did!"

"And she left,"

"She promised she'd come back. I was there among the soldiers, I heard her!" Fae said with tears in her eyes. "A heroine always follows through on her promises."

I shook my head. Didn't she understand? "When you love someone you make silly oaths that won't matter ten years from now." I noticed we had awakened Iracebeth who stirred among the orange illuminated blades of grass. "She couldn't tell that mad milliner that she couldn't ever come back." I finished carving the arrow in my hand and gave it over to the archer. "And Mirana couldn't tell me that she would love me for that moment and nothing more. Her wisdom failed her mouth that night." Fae looked at me with hurt eyes.

"But what about believing the impossible?" She asked. "Aren't you still going to go to Mirana?"

"I need to make things right," I nodded my head. "And I need to obviously help you out. You are far too young to be wandering the woods and far too bright to not be educated."

"But what about the Jabberwock-"

_No, they wouldn't renegotiate after having taken Lily. She had changed what Iracebeth ordered. She paid far too great a sacrifice- her life._

"That is something I will not discuss. You'd be wise not to too."

"She still loves you," Fae shook her head. "She wouldn't be so hurt by your betrayal had she not."

"You don't know what happened out here, you insolent girl. I suggest you keep your mouth shut." I growled. "I am not the only one sensitive about these woods and if Iracebeth wants your head I may just have to stand out of the way and watch it happen." Fae gulped. I smiled at her. "You can't always trust your leaders, Fae. They lie too."

This girl needed to get out of her head this silly notion of impossibles. Alice Kingsleigh wasn't coming back and Mirana of Marmoreal hated me and would always hate me. She didn't understand that if I could go back and change all of that I would.

But Time can be hard.


	11. Facing Old Demons

I had drifted off into the merciful hands of a dreamless sleep after Fae had gone quiet and leaned against a Tum-Tum tree. Awakening in the early morning I found the young girl still fast asleep and Iracebeth was the one who was up. She sat, rubbing the marks on her wrist that had come about from me dragging her through the desert. She looked perplexed at the idea that she was now free from me, but unsure at the same time. She glanced over at me and a smile crossed her ruby lips.

"Stayne," She breathed with a smile. "Can you believe that we are free?"

"We are far from free, Iracebeth," I said with bitterness. Just because we were no longer chained to one another doesn't mean that we were free. That would take Mirana's pardon of our grievous sins. I arose stiffly from the ground and stretched my long, tall body. It groaned slightly from weariness, I had kept driving it forward with no day of rest since we had been stuck out in the Time forsaken wasteland. But there would be no time to waste today in getting to Marmoreal.

"Do you think they're still out there?" Iracebeth said warily, glancing out into the trees. I looked at her with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" I said impatiently.

"The Jabberwocks. Do you think that they are still out there or perhaps they moved on since Lily gave herself over?"

"You made a deal with them to attack all of Marmoreal you slurvish little cur and your sister only was able to bargain with them slightly. Don't you remember this is now their home?" I seethed at her. She looked at me with her large brown eyes.

"Mirana will never forgive men, will she?" She finally broke the tense silence.

"There is a lot of forgiving to be done, Iracebeth," I said bitterly and she blinked.

"You could have stopped them; you could have used the skills they had given you in training to kill that horrible beast." She accused me, standing up. I huffed at her.

"Don't you dare pass full judgment on me!" I cried. "You were the naïve, stupid girl that thought I was in love with you. You still think there is a glimmer left in me now of affection toward your gluttonous, spoiled, rotten self!"

"Don't tell me you still are in love with Mirana after all that happened?" She laughed at me and I felt my anger boiling over. She had no idea what love was! She didn't know what it was like to sacrifice one's self for another person and t o love someone despite their faults. She proved that with the King's head, she proved that (when she thought that I loved her) with her bullying of me. She proved that she knew now what it was to have affection toward another person. Perhaps some of it was my fault.

"What is going on?" Fae asked groggily as she awoke.

"Nothing," Iracebeth snapped. "Just get us out of here."

As Iracebeth finished her demand a roar filled the woods, shaking the leaves on the trees. I felt myself reaching for the dagger that was no longer about my waist and cursing that I had been stripped of all my weapons. The trees shook and rustled as the ground around us vibrated.

"Oh no," Fae's face went white and she picked her bow off the ground where she had been laying.

"What is that?" Iracebeth trembled. Her question was answered when it stepped forward, its large reptile scaled trunks of legs coming toward us. It's finely curved toes and talons dug into the dirt and it lowered its long neck to come closer to our level, letting out a bellowing scream. The Jabberwock stood before us, rage in its red eyes.

"No!" Iracebeth cried and went to cower behind a tree. I looked to Fae who tossed me my dagger.

"This is a suicide mission," She winked at me and I smiled back. Suicide missions were what I specialized in. After the monster we went.

He let out of his mouth one of his disintegrating fire puffs but we both were able to dodge it, going at the best. Fae let loose an arrow toward the beast's soft underbelly but it rotated and the sharp stick harmlessly bounced off its shoulder. I went about trying to distract it now. If Fae could get at its delicate heart it would then be useless to her attack. The only thing that could harm a Jabberwock aside from that was a Vorpal sword- or a very Mad Hatter.

"Watch its tail!" She cried and it swung toward me like a club. I managed to dodge it and it screamed in rage.

"Come on you large stupid beast!" I screamed as I rolled under its body. I forcefully stuck my dagger into its soft belly and it screamed in pain and anger.

"Look out its arms," Fae cried and I managed to duck and roll away from its large talon laden claw that made a swipe at me.

"I'm over here you stupid cur!" I cried and directed its attention over to me. The beast let out a roar along with another burst of flames. I narrowly escaped their evaporating power and that only enraged the beast more. He raised his hand to strike at me and Fae took the shot. She missed, however, because the beast caught her out of the corner of its eye, lowering his elbow to deflect that shot she made. The arrow went bouncing off into the Tugley Wood. I looked over to her with surprise that it had caught her but it was a foolish idea. The creature swung his arm and before I realized what was happening brought it down upon my back, sending me sprawling into the ground.

"Stayne!" Fae cried but the monster was preparing to finish me off with his vaporizing breath. She screamed and went at him, kicking him about the ankles. The monster found her to be a nuisance enough that its anger swung toward her and it let out an angry cry. She smiled as it went toward her but I saw what she was about to do. It was a novice mistake and I couldn't believe she was making it. She had herself pinned against a Tum Tum tree. I realized this wasn't a planned maneuver when I saw her back hit the bark of the tree and her gray eyes widened in fear. The monster went to open its mouth to finish her off first when Iracebeth came whirling out of the woods.

"Hey you big oaf!" she screamed. "It's me you are all mad at because I ruined your stupid little plan to bring Underland under your control! It was me who took your brother and gave his head to the Champion!" She was jumping up and down in her ruined dress and waving her arms about her head. "It's me you really want not the stupid Knave or the foolish little girl."

The creature paused in front of Fae, turning his head to take in the sight of Iracebeth. I could see Fae had pressed herself against the tree and was trying hard not to smell the horrid breath of the creature as its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth like a giant serpent. He then looked back to Fae with disinterest and when off to Iracebeth. Fae let out a sigh but I was not finished with the beast. As it strode over my wounded body I thrust my dagger up and into its chest. It must have assumed I was dead because it never would have let its guard down otherwise. With a cry the monster rose on its haunches, letting out a scream of pain. The dagger was buried dead in its chest and Fae took the opportunity to load the gray soft skin with several of her arrows. It cried out even more angrily, its mouth with sharp teeth noshing at the air. After a few moments of crying out it fell to the ground upon its chest, pushing the implements deeper. It inhaled a couple times sharply, followed by shallow exhales and then the creature was still.

I realized my body hurt deeply and Fae came running over to me.

"Stayne, Stayne are you alright?" She cried and went about my arms looking at the wounds that were visible there.

"Stayne," Iracebeth said, joining the girl. "Didn't you learn your lesson the first time around?"

I frowned, what she had said was bringing memories back to my mind. Ones I had wanted to forget. With the explosion of the past and the pain in my body all swooping upon my mind, I passed out in the grass of the Tugley Woods, beside the monster who lay motionless in death.


	12. An Oath is Taken

**A/N: Wow. I am incredibly bad at making short stories. I meant to make this one short story. Almost 15 chapters in on my computer and literally only half way through the plot. Oh well...looks like longer chapters for you!**

**Also don't forget to review if you've been reading! I hope you guys are enjoying this story. There aren't a lot of Mirana/Stayne fics out there and I feel dreadfully horrid about writing them as a romantic pair with pretty much no romance so far. *sigh* But their relationship just wouldn't be believable without construction so I am afraid...more angst. I should just get rid of the Romance category and put TONS OF ANGST! COMPARABLE TO TWILIGHT**

**Sorry if that offended my Twi-lover readers. But even you can't deny that those books were angsty.**

**But we are talking about my story and you reviewing it ;D **

**Alright, enough blabbing.**

**Shout out to Ranguvar27 because she is the epitome of epic.**_  
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><p><em>Dear Readers, I did not die, if you were wondering. Else how would I be able to pick up this quill in my hand and tell you the story of what I became and who I was going to allow myself to be? I am ashamed that I was clobbered by the Jabberwock but it turned out to be useful. Enough of my interruptions, however, perhaps you would like to know what kind of memory came to my mind. Since meeting Fae I no longer dream it would seem (and Tarrant would be proud of that rhyme) but instead I remember. In fragments, in bits, but never in order. I am sorry if this makes you confused, dear reader. But it causes my head to spin as well. Just pay close attention as this all comes to a head. Soon I will be meeting a very dear friend.<em>

I stood in the midst of the Tugley Wood staring down at the soul less body of Princess Lily. Mirana had collapsed to her knees before her sister and began to weep bitterly. She placed her head to the woman's scratched and bloody face. My own face was bloodied from the blow I received from the first creature. The one that took my left eye from its socket painfully, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. Mirana herself was quickly forming bruises on her legs and arms, her dress was damaged and a large scratch reached from her shoulder blade to the curve of her hip across the pale back. The bleeding had slowed but the cute was turning an angry red.

"Mirana, we have to go get help," I said, reaching down to touch her shoulder. She looked up to me angrily.

"Why couldn't you have destroyed the beast?" She rose up to her full height, her dress hanging in shreds about her body. She looked like one of the paintings of the revolutionaries of old, her pale left breast hanging out from among the shreds. Her dress skirt was ruined and her thighs were rounded and muscled from running. Her face was covered in her sister's blood, her hands stained red from its flow. She clenched them by her side.

"Mirana, I tried-"

"You tried in vain!" She shrieked and looked down at her sister. "We should have fought harder against them."

"She offered herself as a sacrifice. It would have only brought more dangers to the entire kingdom." I reached out a hand trying to comfort her.

"No!" She screamed and her right hand went out and slapped me hard across the face.

"Mirana!" I cried. I was not upset about the pain of the slap but that it meant she was angry at me. "We can still leave." He was beginning to take over. The coward who had taken over me leading to the trouble we were in. "We can leave and be together in the far out realms and no one would ever know."

"Except for me," A harsh voice corrected me. I turned to see Iracebeth coming toward us. Her dress' bodice was sliced open where the Jabberwock had grabbed her in its great claws. Her pale flesh was bleeding as well. A large scratch crossed her cheek and her hair was out from its normally rounded bun. It flew wildly about.

"Leave us alone, Racey!" Mirana said, doubling over in tears.

"I will never leave you alone, Mirana. Until you give me what I want."

"I will _never_ give you it," Mirana seethed, her chest muscles tightening and her voice scrunching angrily. She barred her teeth in rage, a deep warning sounding in her throat. She looked like a banshee, the white shattered remains of the dress tickling her body in the breeze.

"I am tired of being below you, Mirana. I am now the eldest!" She screamed. "I am the one who is going to receive the crown!" Iracebeth shrieked as both of us witnessed Mirana bolting across the distance that separated the two sisters. A roar of rage let loose from her body and she leapt upon Iracebeth.

"If it is a matter of eldests I can settle this score!" She shrieked and her long white fingers wrapped about Iracebeth's throat. I gasped as I witness Mirana, my beloved, gentle Mirana, beginning to choke her sister to death. I stood frozen, unable to move as I took in the situation before me.

"H-h-h-heelp….meeeee…" Iracebeth said with a choking sound. Mirana clenched her teeth as her pale hands squeezed harder around her sister's neck. I knew what to do. I leapt forward and placed my hand on her shoulders.

"Mirana, love, killing her is not going to help you live up to Lily." I said, looking down at her. "She isn't going to get the crown now that she's killed her."

"She killed my sister, my true sister!" Mirana screamed and didn't lessen her grip.

"Please, my love, killing her won't solve anything. It isn't going to right the wrong we've just done." He said. Mirana gently loosened her grasp on her older sister's purple neck. Iracebeth's face had gone blue from the lack of air and Mirana finally sat back on her haunches above her sister. "There's a good girl," I murmured kissing the crown of her head. She looked down at Iracebeth with rage and I could hear her mustering up saliva in her mouth. She forcefully spat in the gasping princess' face as she stood.

"Curse you, Iracebeth," Her voice was harsh and guttural as she looked down at her sister. "Curse you and all who you rule over." I gently pulled the White Princess away.

"I will be Grand Queen of this Empire!" The red head said, getting up. "I will marry the Red Prince and I will take the crown from you, you whore." She glared at Mirana. I placed my hand on Mirana's shoulder but she pushed it away.

"And curse you, you Knave! Had you not been so hasty we would have avoided all this danger and we would have been able to see my sister take the rightful position as heir." She pointed at me in anger. "And curse me!" She cried, falling to the ground. She bunched her white beautiful locks in her fists and groaned. "Curse me for ever thinking that being deceptive would solve my problems. It brought nothing but pain and destruction!" She began to weep.

"Mirana, please, we can work this out. Let us go to your parents together and we can explain what has happened." I pleaded with her. Mirana looked at me with utter disdain.

"You have defiled me, Stayne. We have lain together and you aren't even a Prince. I cannot marry you nor will I after what this has caused to my family." She said with her dark lips. Her black eyes were rimmed red from her bitter tears as she rose. "I will not be able to marry a prince according to our customs. And I cannot marry you according to our law." She turned to Iracebeth. "Take what you want. I am done with all of this."

"Mirana!" I cried out in fury. "You can't do this to me. You can't ignore that we loved each other and you can't deny that you still love me!" He, the coward, cried from within me. Mirana turned back to me as she had been facing her sister and raised her eyebrow slightly.

"Love? I am incapable of loving," She answered coldly. My face paled as the blood drained from my cheeks.

"Mirana, you are capable. Don't let Lily's death-" Mirana shot me a look and walked back to where her sister lay still gasping for air in the grass.

"You have won for now, dear sister. But when you come for the crown I will not be eager to give it up. It is the last thing that Underland needs, for you to have a crown. You will bring nothing but destruction between your selfish behavior and your future Mother in Law, the Queen of Heart's, ill temper. You cannot marry your Knave, for he will never be a King." She turned to me. Her lips were still turned in a down ward frown as her dark eyes pierced my soul. "You haven't enough courage to be King."

"Mirana, we can sort this out," Iracebeth said as she stood up. "We can figure out how to make Lily's sacrifice look like an accident. We don't have to be enemies."

"You can't always get what you want Iracebeth. You should have thought of that before you decided to destroy everything. I will not defile Lily's memory like that."

"What are you going to tell Mother and Father now that the Jabberwocks are in the Tugley Wood?" She seethed.

"What are _you_ going to tell them Iracebeth? It was your doing that they were here." I stayed silent as the two sisters began to quarrel. I realized their relationship would never be the same again.

"I have made peace with the Jabberwocks," Iracebeth said with a grin.

"You have made peace with _one_," I corrected her. Mirana looked to me with dark eyes.

"If you hadn't run off trying to sneak a marriage to your beloved Knave-"

"I am going to own up to my mistakes, Iracebeth. And then I shall make no more." She turned to me with a scowl. "This means that you are to take this disgusting coward far from here." She pointed at me. "He shall become a Knave of Red. You will no longer be the Keeper of White."

"Mirana," I took a step toward her. She held her hand up indicating that I should come no closer.

"I love you," I said a tear coming out of my remaining eye.

"How can I love a man who only sees life through one eye?" She asked and I realized she was not jabbing at my new deformity. She was attacking my cowardice.

I watched as she wandered over to the deceased form of her eldest sister and knelt before her. She pressed her forehead to her knee and wept before she placed a hand on her shoulder. She ceased her tears and spoke in a deep voice.

"I promise, on this Lily, that I will never let harm come to any creature through my own hands. These hands now stained red will no longer see blood upon them. I vow that I will never again participate in the violence and slurvish behavior I have seen today. I, Mirana of Marmoreal, have allowed myself to become vulnerable for others just as my sister became vulnerable for me." She inhaled as a light came from Lily's body and she as stood over the corpse her hands began to glow. She let out a small cry and Iracebeth and I watched in amazement as the blood and scraps that once covered her body were now gone. She was pure white, her breast areola and nipple a soft pink against the pale mound. She still wore the tattered dress but the skin that clothed her organs was repaired. The only thing left dark on her body was her fingernails. One would assume they were painted that dark color but the death that Mirana's hands had touched, the body whose oath she made upon, had come out through her fingernails. She looked at me with bitterness then to Iracebeth with rage.

"Let us return." She finally spoke and made her way forward. She paused and looked at me, placing her hand to my face. She wordlessly touched my bloody socket with her finger and I felt the pain dissipate. Later I would find that she had healed my socket that best she was able. She had kept me from bleeding to death. I was the beginning proof of her oath.


	13. Stories Over Tea

I awoke to the argument of Iracebeth and Fae. Each one had me by a shoulder and we trying to drag my body along the path.

"Iracebeth…umph….couldn't you…..nrgghh…at least _try_ to pull….rgggh…a little harder?" Fae panted as she dragged along my body.

"We….mmmpphhh..should have….nrgghh..rrgg..left him." She heaved and her sweat was pouring down her face. Her makeup was completely gone by now.

"Oh….rrrrhhh….do shut up…mmmmpphhh…and pull!" Fae said in exasperation and her brown cropped hair was sticking up in all sorts of interesting ways. I shifted and the sudden movement sent the two sprawling to the ground.

"Iracebeth, for god's sake can't you do anything yourself? Didn't you at least behead one of the people that you ordered beheaded with your own hands?" She groaned. I sat myself up, finding a deep pain in my side. She looked at me and smiled. "Oh good you're back. I don't know how much longer I would be able to put up with Iracebeth's whining. I don't know how you dealt with it for all those years!" This earned the girl a sharp glare from Iracebeth.

"You had better watch your mouth girl or you will be the first one that I behead with my own hands." She growled. I stood up stiffly, my legs and back sore from being struck by the Jabberwock.

"I was able to administer some healing potion that I made from the bark of the Quarry Tree and Lobster Blades." Fae said. "It isn't as strong as a practiced healer could make but it was all I could do."

"Thank you." I managed to say.

"Your ribs are broken I shouldn't wonder." Iracebeth said with a frown.

"Well I wasn't the one who invited the dragonbreaths into the forest was I?" I snapped.

"When are you two going to stop letting the past distract you from what you _could_ be doing?" Fae asked with little patience. Iracebeth opened her small mouth but remained silent for once.

"We should get moving. There are very few places that Jabberwocks don't stay." I said and began to walk, the women could catch up to me in their own time.

"Where is one place that the beasties don't attack?" Fae muttered and I smiled as I took a few more steps forward into a clearing.

"There," I pointed my long pointer finger forward.

In the gap of the woods in front of us lay a very long table, rather series of tables, that stretched long enough for twenty or so guests to attend. It was covered in mismatched and stained table clothes that held tea pots and cups atop of them. Some of the chairs had books piled one on top. Others were covered with stained and ripping seat cushions. A few had broken spindles. All the chairs were dilapidated and some of them even covered with food. At the head of the table regally sat a large arm chair and in that arm chair sat a familiar face. He was smiling for once, his tea pot held out to pour tea into the March Hare's cup. His top hat was leaning forward on his head and his orange hair stuck out wildly from beneath the head covering. A dormouse leaned on the table further down and I saw the familiar Windmill Cottage in the distance.

"Is this the Mad Hatter's Tea Party?" Fae gasped as she looked at the disorganized scene.

"Some debate still whether it was he or the March Hare that started it all." I said with a smile. Then I strode forward. Iracebeth quickly came to my side but Fae ran on ahead.

Tarrant was the first to see us, his cheerful green eyes turned a shade of orange as he spotted me and the dethroned queen. As Fae galloped up to the table he stood abruptly.

"No room! NO ROOM!" He called out nervously and Fae shook her dark head.

"Don't be silly. There is plenty of room; I see it before my eyes!" She laughed and I watched as she flung herself into a seat. "See look. Here is an empty seat for me!"

"No there is no room!" He screamed at her but a gentle voice came from behind him, ceasing his tantrum. We had all been focused on the wary Milliner that we didn't notice his fourth guest coming up behind him, a fresh plate of cupcakes in her hands.

She wore a gray dress made with a fabric that bore a deep shade of gray damask print. The skirt was especially wide, lined with layers of crinoline no doubt. The top appeared to be a sort of outer coat, its edged lined with lace. It drew itself together at the bodice with a corset like design, four damask bows were lined up the center. The top had more damask fabric modestly hiding any cleavage and the ends were lined with the same lace design. It had long loose sleeves that met her fair elbows, curtaining out from a band that accentuated the curve of her elbow. The ends were designed with more dark gray sheer lace, falling halfway down her forearm. Her pale hands were adorned with damask fingerless gloves; the finger holes and hand entrance were all hemmed with lace. Her curly blonde hair fell down from her round face and a smile was upon it. Her green eyes twinkled at Fae as she sat at the table, ignoring the cries of the Mad Milliner.

"Alice," I said in a whisper. Tarrant must have seen my shock at her arrival which caused him to stand before the Champion, protectively blocked the woman from my view. She stood and placed a hand on his arm and gently nudged him aside.

"There is no need for that," She said with grace. "We are among friends are we not?"

"You are calling the Knave that tried to harm you and the Queen who wanted your head, friends?" Tarrant seethed.

"The Queen treated me with cordiality when I was Um and the Knave was acting in fear I do believe." Alice answered him. "Now please sit down. Come, also drink with us friends." She placed the tray of cupcakes on the table and then motioned to the empty seats with her outstretched hand. Wordlessly Iracebeth and I stood, both our mouths were open. Fae looked to us with a frown.

"Don't stand there all gallymoggers!" Fae said hastily. "Sit down, you're being rude."

Hesitantly I took a step forward. Tarrant's eyes were upon me the entire time I moved, his arm never far from Alice. He was going to protect her from me at all costs. No doubt that the feelings he had for the girl were strong. Alice smiled naively at us and waved for Iracebeth to sit down. But both Iracebeth and I took a seat. I placed myself next to Fae.

"There must be a reason you three have come this far into Tugley Woods." She said with a smile.

"We are going to see Queen Mirana." Fae said with a girlish grin. Alice swooped into her seat and smiled at the girl.

"Oh? What for?" She inquired. Tarrant placed a hand on her arm.

"We are going to get these two pardoned," The dark haired girl pointed her thumb at us. "And then we are going to take care of the Jabberwocks."

"That sounds like a very important mission." Alice said with a smile. The girl nodded her head.

"It is," She looked at Alice curiously. "You bear a strong resemblance to the Champion, Alice." She must not have heard my whispered slip.

"That is because she _is_ the Champion, Alice." Tarrant said with a wide smile. Fae's mouth dropped open in shock and her eyes bulged from her head.

"You're…why you're Alice Kingsleigh!" She stood, pointing her finger at the woman, her mouth still hanging.

"Close your mouth Fae or you'll find yourself choking to death on a Dragon Fly." I scolded her.

"Will you have put it there?" Mirana asked bitterly. I sighed. Alice laughed at the girl.

"I am merely Alice, little one. Please don't put me on a higher pedestal. I feel as if I am going to fall already." Her pale cheeks turned a violent shade of red.

"But you defeated _the _Jabberwock! You can bring us to Mirana so that we can now ask for her help! You defeated the Bluddy Behg Hed-"

"_Ahem,_" Iracebeth cleared her throat as she began to sip her tea. Fae blushed as she looked over at the dethroned queen.

"I mean, you set Iracebeth on her straight path!" She said with a smile. I had to shake my head at the girl's pluckiness. Alice covered her mouth as she snickered into her delicate hand.

"Iracebeth has been set on a straight path?" She finally managed to say as she looked over to the monarch. She was hunched over looking into her tea.

"The girl never said it was because she wanted to." I said finally with a smile. Alice glanced my way warily and I realized she was scared of me. Because of what had happened in the palace. She hadn't acted scared then but I saw the fear that was in her green eyes now. She turned her hand over and took hold of Tarrant's. He looked over to her and noticed her staring uneasily at me. His gaze followed hers and he saw me. I knew the look that was coming over his orange eyes. If I dare tried to pull something on Alice I would be dealing with him and his long sword. It wasn't something I wanted to do with my rib a mess. I nodded my head slightly trying to tell him I was going to be civil.

"And you," Fae said, her gray eyes were drinking in the sight of the tea party. "You were the one that fought alongside her. Tarrant Hightopp."

"I didn't fight alongside, I merely fought in the battle as many brave Underlandians did." He said with a grin. His gap teeth gave him his air of madness but Alice glanced over with a proud smile at him. That was when I first realized she was completely in love with him. It made me laugh aloud. Both of their gazes turned to me and I clutched my chest, laughing at the ridiculousness of a Champion being in love with a Mad Milliner. Fae frowned at me and punched my arm.

"_You're being rude!"_ She hissed and I tried to cover my wheezing chuckles with my hand. Alice shook her head.

"It's alright," Alice assured the girl. "Breaking out into random mad bursts of laughter is a common occurrence at this table."

"You would know being the mistress of tea and all." I continued to chuckle and Tarrant glared at me.

"Would you like to hear a story Fae?" He asked with delight. Fae looked at him with wide gray eyes.

"I would love to hear a story," She said with a smile.

"Oh about treacle!" Mally cried as she jumped up on the table. Tarrant took his scarred hand and shoved her aside.

"Nay, this be about a Knave of Hearts. But you probably know him better as the Knave of the Red Court." He smiled at Fae. The girl looked to me curiously but I lowered my eyes to look into the tea cup.

"Oh, I would like to hear it I suppose." She said with a hesitant smile. Alice looked to Tarrant and shook her head, her delicate pale lips mouthing 'no'. He ignored her and went on with his tale.

"Once there was a court of Red but the Queen was known for her former empire. The Empire of Hearts." He said with a smile. "The Queen of Hearts had a very foul temper and constantly cried 'Off with their heads'."

"Much like Iracebeth," Fae interrupted and earned a nasty glare from the woman.

"Where do you think Iracebeth learned the practice from? Her heartless mother-in-law. You see the Queen of Hearts had ten children, all of which Iracebeth would later kill," He looked at the woman with anger. She sank into her chair, her hands covering her face. Alice placed a hand on Tarrant's and began to caress his thumb.

"Tarrant, be civil. Little one, remember that people are allowed to change." She looked over to Iracebeth with a shy smile. Tarrant crossed his thick eyebrows.

"Nay, it doesn't change the course of history though. That is set in stone." He looked to Fae. "Now let me finish my story. So Iracebeth was married to one of her sons. Well the Knave here was sent along with Iracebeth to become a servant in the house of the Reds." He smiled. "And Iracebeth soon became a favorite to her mother in law. She could never do nor say anything wrong. This created a lot of tension between mother dearest and her justice loving son. She, he rather preferred Mirana once he learned Iracebeth's true tyrannical nature."

"ENOUGH!" The large headed woman cried. "I will _not_ have a ludicrous milliner talking about me before my very face. Have you no dignity?" He looked at her and laughed.

"Dignity? Ma'am what do you know about dignity?" He chuckled. I felt bad for Iracebeth as she had hot tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "You never had an ounce of it; not as you raced ahead of the slower kids in school. No' as yeh tuerned yehr bac' on yehr ohwn sistir. No' as yeh caused te'or in teh woods o' Tugley. No' as yeh showed injus'ice to _meh clahn_." He began to turn hostile. Alice leaned over and whispered into his ear. The orange that had begun to grow in his eyes slowly dissipated and he nodded his head. Alice placed her hands together and addressed the past monarch.

"Will you tell us the story, Iracebeth?" She asked genuinely. The red head blinked and her small lips pressed together in thought.

"I suppose I shall. Though my memories are foggy."

"Perhaps because you suppressed them?" Tarrant asked and Alice elbowed him the ribs which made him gasp. Iracebeth then glared at him but she turned to look at Fae and began.

"I was enjoying my tarts on the day that Alice," She looked down the table to the woman with blonde hair sat. "Came to play croquet with my mother in law, the Queen of Hearts. She was a brutal tyrant but everyone feared her and she got all that she desired."

"Is it better to be feared or loved?" Fae asked and Iracebeth raised her eyebrow.

"That has been a question I have been asking since I was young, little one." She said. "But on with the story. I had left my dear husband in order to fetch my tarts (I loved the tasty little snacks…though the cook had covered these in pepper so I doubt they were any good in the end) but alas they were gone. Someone had stolen my tarts!" She wailed. I shook my head at the immaturity that still managed to shine through her frail personality.

"Who was it?" Fae was completely enraptured in the story.

"It was the Knave of the Red Court!" She pointed her ringed pointer finger at me with a scowl. Fae gasped as a young child would do. I shook my head at the pretense of it all.

"You stole the tarts, Stayne? How could you."

"I was hungry," I answered. "Do I need any more reason than that?" I asked coldly. I was thirsty now that I was thinking of basic needs and I was looking around for a cup in which to pour tea.

"I should say that tea was quite filling at that Time!" Tarrant said with pride. I rolled my eye.

"Perhaps because you were bound by Him." I shot back. He settled back into his chair.

"He had stolen my tarts and angered my mother in law. So he was set on trial. The stupid Milliner-"

"Excuse me!" Tarrant said, standing in his chair.

"If you insist on unleashing truths upon me I shall upon you!" She cried and Alice took Tarrant by the arm, shaking her head.

"It's a good thing you have the Champion to rein you in." I laughed. Tarrant glared at me.

"I recall being a witness at your trial," He said with a smirk.

"You knew nothing. Don't you remember the curse put upon you?" Iracebeth snickered.

"What did you do, Sir Hightopp?" Fae asked looking to the Milliner.

"I'm afraid I murdered Time or at least was blamed for doing so." He sighed, leaning back in his chair. He rested his elbow on the armrest and placed his head in his hand.

"How can one do that?" She looked at me.

"By singing 'Twinkle Twinkle, Little Bat'." I said with a smile. Tarrant glared at me.

"I am sure that the Queen just disliked the song, Tarrant has a wonderful singing voice." Alice said protectively. I shook my head at her defensive nature.

"Alice was called upon the stand as well." Iracebeth said looking to the blonde.

"That's right. And if I remember that was when I was over a mile high!" She laughed.

"Alice," Fae leaned forward in her chair. "How many times have you been here?"

"This is my fourth." She said with a wink. "And my last."

"You are going to stay?" Fae said with joy. "Will you teach me all that there is to being a Champion?"

"I have nothing to teach. Besides, you are interrupting Iracebeth's story. "

"Oh, right," Fae looked to the Queen.

"There isn't much more to tell." Iracebeth said with a sigh. "Except for that note."

"What note?" Alice asked with curiosity.

"Surely you must remember," Tarrant said. "The one that the White Rabbit had discovered on Stayne when he was in the jail cell."

"You two have a terrible habit of talking about people when they sit before you." I said with annoyance. Alice looked to me with innocent eyes.

"Isn't that better than talking behind your back?" She asked. I sighed.

"What was the note about?" Fae turned to look at me.

"I don't remember," I said. But it was a lie. I remembered perfectly well what it was about.

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><p><strong>AN:** **I should put a link to Alice's dress because I only WISH I could have made this up in my head...**

auxiliarymagazine . com / wp-content/ uploads/ 2010/ 06/ Aux_SharonTK2 .jpg


	14. Letter of Old

**A/N: This chapter is just for all your Carrollians out there :) **

**I need to make a special statement in this chapter**

**_The Letter and the later quotes from a character belong to Lewis Carroll and can be found in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland._**

**You know the deal, loves, read and try your best to review :)**

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><p>I had been sitting in the jail cell for the entire afternoon knowing that with the Queen of Hearts if I had made it this far I would surely see the loss of my head. I wanted to make sure that Mirana knew I was sorry. That she should still know that I loved her. But it couldn't just be laid out in plain letters, it would be easily understood should it cross Iracebeth's jealous hands and it would never get to its intended receiver, Mirana.<p>

I don't know why I took so much time on it, it never did anyways.

So I asked for a quill, some ink, and paper so that I could write down my last words.

"_They told me I had been to her,"_ I began the letter. I had been with Mirana so many times, she would certainly know the her I was referring to. I continued on.

_And mentioned me to him._

_She gave me a good character. _Hopefully Mirana still thought respectfully of me. I hoped that even though she was angry with me because of what I couldn't stop that perhaps she would know deep in her core that I was the same Stayne she fell in love with in her grade school years. That I would always be her Knave and her shelter no matter what would come her way.

_But said I could not swim. _She would see this as my apology. She would see this as me confessing that I did not live up to what she wanted. I had made a mistake. I was unable to stay afloat under pressure; perhaps she would recognize the sorrow behind my words.

_He sent them word I had not gone_

_(We know it to be true) _

_If she should push the matter on_

_What would become of you? _

No one would believe me now but I was warning Mirana. I knew that Iracebeth was planning a coup with the Queen of Hearts. They both wanted the crown of Underland and they were going to get it whether it meant harming Mirana or not. My loyalty had not gone from my first love even though she believed that all the love I had given to her had disappeared on the day of the Jabberwock. It merely was not true. I would love my glimmering Mirana no matter what. And I didn't want to see her fall into harm's way. The matter that was being pushed was Iracebeth's insistence of the crown. Mirana had to prepare to face an Iracebeth who would do something about not being given what she wanted. Her mother in law was spoiling her in ways that her parents never had before. Her loyalties changing due to goods and luxuries. She was slurvish from the beginning. And if Iracebeth wanted the crown, mere Mirana wasn't going to keep it from her.

_I gave her one, they gave him two_

_You gave us three or more _

_They all returned from him to you _

_Though they were mine before._

I furiously wrote that I still wanted back Mirana's love. I gave her sister one deceitful lie that spread into a beast that devoured us all. I was replaying to Mirana what I knew she must remember. Perhaps seeing it before her in writing would clear up her mind. Confessing that they, her love, were mine before. I wanted them back.

_If I or she should chance to be _

_Involved in this affair _

_He trusts to you to set them free_

_Exactly as they were._

How many more times would I need to plead with Mirana to give back the love that I had found in her? My life was waning, my courage faltering as I was being forgotten by the one woman who meant more to me than a thousand tarts. I and Iracebeth were involved in this Red court business but in the end it really all meant nothing. Something my naïve mind had not yet grasped was that actions always bore consequences that sometimes we don't want to be tied to. I was begging Mirana like a pathetic child to bring me back to her. I was glad in the end that this letter was never received. How poorly she would have looked down on me for my flippant behavior. I acted as if I could just turn back the wheels of Time and forget all that I had done to wound her and her family. I had acted impetuously and in my juvenile state of thought I believed that all could be forgiven through one of Mirana's potions. Or perhaps a simple little letter in which I pleaded for her to forgive my soul and grant her my love before I would die on the executioner's block.

_My notion was that you had been _

_(Before she had this fit)_

_An obstacle that came between_

_Him and ourselves and it. _

I wanted Mirana to remember that we had gotten through the hard times of teenage love. That we had survived the obstacle of people pointing fingers at us and rules that told us who to love. We had survived the storms of Iracebeth the Great whose tempestuous fits threatened to demolish her sister all because she wanted large Stayne all to herself. Together we had overcome and we had been able to find love. Couldn't we possibly do it again?

_Don't let him know she liked them best _

_For this must ever be _

_A secret kept from all the rest_

_Between yourself and me _

Mirana must know that I couldn't tell Iracebeth that I was still in love with her sister. It would cost me my head and Mirana would be vulnerable to attack because her clever older sister knew her weakness. Our little love needed to be kept in the dark and a secret from all the rest. But we would know that we loved each other. The Fair Monarch would know that I loved her to the end.

But she never received this note. Instead the pesky White Rabbit, McTwisp, had been caught trying to deliver it to the White Queen himself and the King of Red, Iracebeth's father in law, had read it over claiming that it was a confession. I shook my head and pleaded with the monarchs, lying and saying that I hadn't written it.

But one person had defended me; she had claimed that all this couldn't be proven and that they were to let me go. I had remained bitter at the girl for years assuming that she had gotten me into all this trouble with the tarts. But sitting at the table that day looking into her deep green eyes I realized that Alice had saved me in that moment.

'_It doesn't prove anything of the sort!_' She had cried at the King, calling his bluff at being able to decipher what Stayne had written. The King had gotten it all wrong anyways.

'_Stuff and nonsense!'_ She scoffed '_The idea of having a verdict first!_' and bravely had stood up to the King. She had saved me that day by knocking all the cards over with mighty hands. And she had left Wonderland soon after. I had forgotten what a defendant Alice had been in my case until now.

Funny how we forget situations until the memories come back to us at the strangest of hours and suddenly we see the person before us with a new eye.


	15. Listening Ears

Alice invited me into the home insisting that I spend a little time by myself without my two travelling mates. She put more tea on to boil and seep on the crooked stove that sat in the upturned kitchen. I had never once been in the home of a Hightopp never having been a close enough companion to one of the children. The blonde ushered me to one of the kitchen chairs.

"Please, have a seat. You look awful. Oh, I'm sorry." She pressed several fingers to her lips.

"I had a nasty run in with a Jabberwock." I moaned, my ribs were still sore.

"You mean there are _more_ than one?" She asked with a groan.

"The one that you faced Alice was one of the tamer ones." I admitted and thanked her as she placed a tea cup with the scent of chamomile wafting in the steam before me.

"I would hate to meet his cousin," She said and sat in her seat. "How many are there?"

"Many, too numerous to count. Though they used to call the Outterlands their home." I took a small swig of tea and found myself scowling at the bitter taste. She giggled and pushed a clear glass of sugar cubes my way.

"What changed their minds?" She steepled her chin on her hands.

"Iracebeth," I answered her taking my spoon and after capturing three large sugar cubes I placed them in my tea.

"You can't tell me that the tyrannical red head can control horrible monsters such as them so easily."

"No, it was more of a deal. Mirana and I for the Tugley Woods." I answered her.

"Mirana and you," She leaned forward on the table. "I keep hearing Mirana and you. But I don't understand. You were on the side of Red since I met you."

"Mirana banished me there after the death of Lily,"

"Lily?"

"The eldest," I answered her again before taking another sip of tea. It tasted much better now that the sugar was in it to change its flavor.

"But Iracebeth is the eldest." She said, standing and taking her empty tea cup to the sink. She began to clean the pile of dishes that was beginning to form next to the wash tub.

"She is now. But Lily was the eldest before she died." I leaned back on the chair.

"I am confused." She looked over her shoulder now that her back was turned to me.

"Of course you wouldn't understand; you are ten years our junior and you are not from Underland." How could I so easily forget that this Alice was not from here. Though she fought for us, though she stood by our side, she was not really of our blood. She could go home to her place in Upperland and forget us all in mere seconds. But perhaps she was going to remain true to her word and stay. I sighed and knew that she needed to know the truth. Many Underlandians never heard all of it. Only bits and parts as courtiers and creatures whispered behind Mirana and my backs.

"Mirana and I were in love," I answered. "And we were going to do something stupid-"

"You were in love!" Alice sighed and turned around, leaning against the sink. "I want to hear the story when you first realized it."

"I knew that I loved her since I was young. She was eight at the time," I smiled. "But it would take many years before we even said it to one another."She admitted it to me at first when she taught me to dance. But we didn't really talk about it until a couple days later."

"Oh, Stayne, do please tell me that tale. It's a lot more interesting that all that fighting rubbish. I know it's all important to history and what is going on now but Troy even had its love story."

"Troy?" I asked with confusion.

"Never mind," She blushed and turned back to the dishes. I had flustered her I could tell. She was love struck, one could tell by the way her smile was brighter and her eyes seemed to shine. She felt at peace in this home yet she bore no ring to indicate a continuing relationship. If there even was one.

"You love Tarrant Hightopp," I said with a teasing smile. I would never be able to get over my love of causing torture to star struck ladies. She turned, her mouth hanging open in protest.

"No, no of course not. We are merely good friends. I see him more as a brother."

"I have seen brothers and sisters, no one stares at their sibling with the love and lust you stare at the Milliner with," I winked at her with single eye. "I won't tell him. I know the feeling of loving someone and not being able to admit it." She sighed and smiled at me, relief in her green eyes.

"Tarrant has been by Mirana's side nearly every day. I know I shouldn't read too much into the situations now that I know all about the Jabberbeasties roaming the Woods and all but-"

"You think Mirana and Tarrant are in love?" I couldn't help but laugh. "That is the most insane thing I have ever heard in my life. And you try to carry the façade that you two are like siblings. I've never seen a man and woman as more alike as family as those two." I shook my dark head. She looked at me a confused look. "I need to tell you this story, Alice, even if it would merely sooth your worry about Mirana and Tarrant."

"I would love to have something distract my mind." She nodded her head and I laughed.

"Very well, I owe you for scaring you in your last visit here." I put my feet up on the table, relaxing to begin the tale of Mirana and I. "It started when she summoned me to her balcony one warm spring day…"

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry this chapter is so short :( I unfortunately haven't had a lot of time to write and I'm not going to say that I have Writer's Block because I don't have it per se...I am just kind of stuck in getting from here to there. That's all. Hopefully it won't be for long and I am NOT abandoning this story what so ever. I am hoping to get another chapter to you by the end of the week, loves. I hope I am not scaring you!**

**This story is just a challenge, a good healthy one but a challenge non the less. So if you have anything inspiring that I should read, look, listening to send me something. I should have said this earlier but these are the major inspirations. The song _The Little Lion Man_ by Mumford and Sons is really fueling Stayne for me and Imogen Heap's _Hide and Seek _is going to play a major role with Mirana. Songs help my muse a lot and so does art. So suggest away!**


	16. Innocence and Wonder

**A/N: Here is a nice long chapter in order to make up for not updating sooner. I think I am now starting to see my way through this thick fog to the next bridge. A trip to the chiropractor and having to lay in the quiet with heating pads on my back seems to do the trick ;D**

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><p>I nervously made my way through the corridors of Marmoreal in search of a quick way to get to the balcony without being seen. How would I be treated if one of my friends found out I was stalking around the princess' corridor? But I had come due to the fact that Mirana had sent word for me. It had been a couple weeks since the ball and school was drawing to a close for the summer months. I knew that would mean that I would see Mirana less- especially if I received my royal summons to join the White Army.<p>

I hurried through the white hall with bated breath and nervously wrung my hands together. What in the world would she have called me up here for? We were becoming fast friends; she began to spend more time with me now that it was clear she and I had our eyes on one another. The only trouble this brought was with Iracebeth who I think had her own little crush on me.

I was roughly bumped from my thoughts when I physically crashed into Tarrant Hightopp. He toppled backwards, his red hair jotting out everywhere. He had a measuring tape about his shoulders and a bandolier of spools about his chest. I spied a pair of scissors slipping out of his pocket as he lay sprawled on the floor. I being a great deal taller and more muscular (and thus heavier than the scrawny milliner's son) was able to stay on my own two feet.

"Sorry there, Tarrant," I said with sincere apology, holding my hand out to the milliner. He glared at me with orange tinged eyes.

"Ah don' neehd yeh 'elp." He growled in an accent I had never quite heard before.

"I truly didn't see you there. I am afraid I was a bit lost in my thoughts." I bent over now shoving my long hand his way. He looked at it balefully and then knocked it away. He flipped over and got up himself with the help of his hands and knees. "What's got you in awful mood today?"

"It's none of your business." He said brushing his white coat off. A smudge of dirt ruined the display on his elbow. He sighed as he tried his best to remove the spot.

"Is Mirana in her room?" I asked him with a friendly smile but this only caused him to pause in his cleaning and glare up at me with those orange tinged eyes again.

"Aye she might be." He said with anger in his voice. "Why do you want to know where the princess is?"

"She summoned me," I answered him truthfully. His face fell into a look of hurt and I had to smile to myself. Tarrant Hightopp had a crush on his best friend the White Princess. "We really are just good friends Tarrant."

"Nay, she has an interest in you." He groaned and began to nervously pick at his bandolier. I noticed that his pale shapely hands were beginning to turn a red tinged color. I frowned looking upon them. He looked up at me most likely curious about the silence and noticed I was staring at his hands. With an embarrassed tinge in his cheeks he shoved them in his pockets. "It's form the mercury." He mumbled.

"What is?" I asked with stupidity. But it was mostly likely insulting the chap. He knew what I was looking at and it embarrassed him.

"The red hue you idiot." He growled."It's from working with hats. I didn't make it into the White Army-"

I stifled a snigger at the man and I knew my dark eyes widened. "Wait, _you_ wanted to be in the White Army?"

"I love Marmoreal and would do anything to see her and my family protected." Tarrant growled and stood now rigidly, his feet together and his back straight. "My pa has been teaching me a little bit of the fighting of my clan and I knew that I'd make a great soldier for Mirana."

"Firstly, Lily receives the crown," I laughed at him. "Secondly, aren't you a bit…scraggly?" Tarrant looked hurt at my remark.

"It's only because I have to make hats with my father." He said turning away. I felt bad that I had hurt his feelings but I also knew that I didn't want to make enemies with Mirana's best friend.

"I didn't mean to tease you, Tarrant. I think you would have made a brave soldier. You have the passion of one," I said with a forced grin. He nodded his wild mess of hair.

"I suppose. Besides, I am more needed to defend the home front in cause you cleverless luts fail at your job." He said with a mad grin.

"Is it because of Mirana?" I asked. Tarrant looked at me wild eyed.

"Pardon?"

"Did you want to join the White Army because of Mirana?" I restated my question. He looked at me speechless but I received my answer from the redness that dashed his pale cheeks again. "She isn't the one for you, Tarrant." I shook my head.

"How do you know? Because she is the one for _you_?" He grew defensive. Part of me wanted to say yes because I knew that I wanted her all to myself. But a larger part of me knew that this wasn't the truth

(_You see, dear reader, Alice has been in our blood for so long. I even sensed that there was someone not quite come to us that was meant all for our Mad Milliner_).

"I suppose." I blinked my eyes at him searching for better words. "I love Mirana most likely as much as you do but there is someone greater out there for you. I can sense her." Tarrant looked at my skeptically.

"Mirana will want a warrior anyways," He shrugged his shoulders. "Always going off about her 'Knave in White Armor' when we spend time together."

"Tarrant- I-" I felt bad looking into the young man's hurt green eyes.

"There's nothing you can say, you can't change the way she feels." He looked up at me with a forced half smile. I shook my head.

"I don't know how she feels and besides I don't even know if I am a White Knave yet," I admitted. Tarrant looked up at me with a sly grin upon his pink lips now.

"Well you may want to follow through on that summons then. Tell Mirana that it was my fault you were kept late, I am her best friend I will vouch for you later." He said.

"Thank you so much, Tarrant." I held out my hand for him to shake but he shook his head and brushed by me. I turned to watch him walk a couple steps before he turned to look at me.

"Sometimes I see this woman in blue," He looked into my eyes. "And I don't think I could ever see Mirana in blue. I think you are right, Ilosovic. Perhaps you aren't that bad after all." I let out a hearty laugh at the young man's statement and turned to stand before Mirana's door. There were little childish drawings of bread-and-butterflies attached to its great white wood. I lifted my hand placing it between a gold one that flitted upon a flower and a blue one that danced upon the pallid door giving the wood a firm rap.

"Come in," Came her angelic call. I gulped and gently pulled on the long door handle, pressing it toward the floor. I gave it a good push and it swung open to Mirana's room.

It was as white as the dresses she wore; a four poster bed was placed in the middle with large pillows strewn upon it. Pictures that she had drawn through the years were posted all over the pearly walls along with some awards she had won at school. She sat next to her bed at upon a finely crafted stool before a vanity. Walking closer I saw that was where she kept her small amounts of cosmetics, currently she was puffing a powder puff against her long cheeks. She turned and smiled at me, rising from the chair. She wore a sleek white dress that hugged her hips and curved. It fell loosely down her legs and tickled the floor at her feet. It had thick straps connected to the slightly plunged neckline that folded over her round shoulder. Small hints of breasts smiled up at me. She was on the cusp of womanhood from the neck down, nearly at the age of fourteen, which sent my nearly seventeen year old senses reeling. But when I looked up into her long face I knew that she was still a child. Those dark brown eyes laughed at me as if I had done something funny that she only found humorous. They weren't the eyes of a child though; they were the eyes of a mischievous teenage girl.

"You summoned me, my Princess?" I asked a bowed. She gave a loud disgusted sigh and shook her long luminous locks.

"What have I told you about that royalty shukm, Iloso?" She groaned. I couldn't help but smile.

"I am sorry I took so long getting to your chambers. Your friend the milliner kept me rather sidetracked for a few minutes."

"No need for apologies." She smiled. "He was just in here. Mother wants him to make me a hat for the visit to the Kingdom of Red later on. They are looking for a suitor for Iracebeth now that she is nearly sixteen years old."

"Sixteen already?" I hummed. She frowned at me. "That is rather old and useless."

"I am nearly fourteen and you had better treat me with some desire!" She said with a tease in her smile. I bowed again.

"Of course your Majesty!" I said with over emphasis. "I think you are the _most _beautiful of all the princesses." She giggled at my mocking her. I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Lily far exceeds my beauty." She smiled. "But I am afraid she wishes to be the virgin queen which gives my mother and father a fright."

"Seems you'll need to find yourself a husband in order to give some heirs to this nation," I smiled suggestively and stepped forward. She played along.

"Of course I would need the best soldier in the White Army," She winked at me and I shuddered.

"I am afraid that the man who stands before you is no Knight. Merely a Knave," I sighed. Many of my friends had received their scrolls of acceptance to the academy this afternoon but the Stayne mailbox lay bare of a parchment.

"I seem to recall reading something in the new census of our army that contradicts this," She said crossing the room to a large desk that lay against the wall. Parchments and ink wells were all about the table top and quills lay hap-hazardously upon them. She shuffled through the mess and frowned. "I could have sworn…" She paused and then made her way back to her vanity. I noticed that a wrapped scroll lay upon it. She now ceased it with her pale hand.

"Here it is." She smiled at me and handed the piece of paper out. I took it in my hands looking upon it. The royal seal was upon it, a giant monogrammed wax M staring up at me. I looked up at her but she had already produced a seal opener. I took the sharp instrument from her waiting hands and broke the seal. Unfurling the rolled yellowed paper I began to read.

"'Lord Ilosovic Stayne'," I began. "They called me a _lord_!" I shouted in glee.

"Oh do read it Iloso! I want to know what it says!" She hurried me along.

"'The academy of the White Army would love to congratulate you on your wonderful demonstration of swordsmanship, academic honor, and chivalrous nature-'" I paused and the parchment began to shake in my hands. My breathing was shallow; beads of sweat were beginning to produce on my forehead. Mirana stood before me with her hands clasped; her eager dark eyes urging me to continue. "'We-we-we would like to-to- congratulate you as well for your acceptance into the WHITE ARMY'S MILITARY ACADEMY!'" I shouted and flung the scroll across the room. I excitedly grabbed Mirana in a hug and spun her around the room. I set her down and began to dance wildly as she laughed while looking on. After a couple seconds my senses returned causing me to pause. I was going on like a raucous school rebel. Embarrassed at my behavior in front of Mirana I stopped and smoothed my hair, gasping at my outburst. I then realized what I had done to her.

"Mirana, oh Time!" I groaned. "I am so sorry I didn't mean to grab you like that. It wasn't very polite of me," I began to try to apologize a thousand times over to the princess. Her tinkling laugh silenced me and she sauntered closer.

"Don't apologize, Iloso." She leaned in toward me and I could smell the flowery scent of her perfume upon her luscious throat. I knew that I wanted to press my lips to that very succulent skin but she was still so young I couldn't. She came even closer, teasing my senses and I gasped. She looked at my chest as she reached her hand out to touch it. "I was just reading this book about a girl that fell in love." She glanced up to me.

"And-" I breathed in agony.

"She wanted to kiss the man that she fell in love with. She gave up everything she knew and everything she was just for a kiss and a love." Her chocolate eyes found my own.

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"She died. She never did get that kiss." She smiled up at me. I noticed for the first time that Mirana wasn't wearing her usual lip gloss instead her lips were painted a deep brown color. I found them extremely tantalizing, especially after she licked them and they glistened in the light that streamed through the balcony doors that lay open. "Iloso," She whispered come close to my face.

"Yes, my princess?" I whispered back, not wanting to break the moment.

What she said next wasn't a question but a demand, one that I wanted to follow through. "Kiss me,"

I did. My red lips found hers and they were soft. They tasted wonderfully as I pressed my own mouth against them hard. I felt her hands wrap around my neck, my own hands grasping her underneath her budding breasts. My mouth began to press more eagerly upon her luxurious lips and she opened her mouth suddenly. I obliged my opening mine and sweeping her small cavern with my tongue. She tasted of innocence and wonder, something that one can never truly describe but one knows when the encounter it. She encouraged me on as her fingers tangled in my raven dark hair. A small moan filled my cave of a mouth and I knew she enjoyed my tongue brushing against her. She leaned back and I caught hold of her. I let go of her mouth and gently made my way down to her neck giving her a soft kiss. She groaned again and I could see that her small mounds were beginning to press against the tight fabric. I gave up on her neck and then went back to her mouth. She was still too young to go further. She still didn't know what was good for her. She kissed me one more time before letting go of my mouth but not of her grasp round my neck.

"Ilosovic Stayne will you be my Knave?" She murmured.

"Always and forever," I murmured and she beamed at me. Her face and eyes glowing with an emotion I'd never seen in any of the other girls I had kissed.

This emotion I would come to find out later was love.


	17. Tale of Woe

Alice had listened attentively to my story and then immediately dragged me up by the hand when I was done.

"We have to see Mirana," She said urgently. "We _can _set this right." I looked at her with my one eye and sighed.

"The Jabberwocks must be stopped and-"

"I am not talking about the Jabberwocks!" She cried thrusting her hands on her hips. I could see how she was going to be good for the milliner; her spunk would forever keep him on his toes. "I mean right with Mirana. She needs you, Stayne, whether you wish to admit it or not."

"Why are you helping me?" I asked pulling my hand away from her. She tilted her head as she read my face and frowned.

"I believe in Six Impossible Things in a day, Ilosovic, and I believed today that someone great would change." She insisted and dragged me out of the house.

Down the field we went and back to the tea party where the attendees were drinking tea in complete silence. Mally had scurried away and I sighed; she was never as loyal as her elder brother was. He too had been taken victim by the Jabberwocks who roamed these woods.

"Tarrant!" Alice hollered and the man turned eagerly in his seat, rising when he saw us fast approaching. I could see the admiration in his eyes and I knew how much he cared for the passionate creature which held my hand. A tempest indeed she was. "We are going to Marmoreal, today!"

"But Alice, is there need?" He asked and came to her. She smiled up at him and grasped his hand now letting go of mine. She was a rather touchy person when she wanted to make a point, something that was beginning to irritate me.

"We need to see Queen Mirana; with Iracebeth and Stayne." I looked to the fallen monarch and our spry little companion. Iracebeth's weary face fell at the mention of seeing her sister. I could tell that she was going to force herself if it meant living but it was not something that she was eager to do. Fae, however, had a look of amazement upon her face and she clapped her hands giddily.

"Oh, Alice!" She cried in delight. "We are to journey to Marmoreal now?"

"I see no benefit in us waiting," Alice said with a smile. I looked to Tarrant who stood with mouth agape not quite how to deal with the demands being made by his precious little tea mistress.

"Mirana still harbors wrath." Tarrant said with an unusually dead voice.

"It's been nearly a year you told me that yourself. She can get over the feelings that are on the surface now anyways. I don't wish to be attacked by a giant Jabberwock in the midst of the wood." She reasoned with him. He sighed, removing his top hat from his head before turning to the rest of the table. He bowed to his friend stiffly.

"Off to Marmoreal I go, Thack." He said to the March Hare. The creature's yellow eyes widened in worry.

"Yeh beh cahrefel." He warned. It was the first time in many that I had seen the creature warn with reason. It was a bad omen to me. Iracebeth stood stiffly from the table with Fae close behind. She came to the three of us, her hand extended to Alice.

"Are you going to help us, twit?" She asked but Alice only blinked with her large green eyes at the redhead.

"I don't appreciate much the name calling. This isn't your court and these are my rules." She finally said after a pause. Iracebeth could say nothing to the girl and her mouth hung open at her response.

"You heard the bonnie lass," Tarrant said looking to the silent Iracebeth. "Not one misjudged word."

"I don't think Iracebeth meant it offensively," Fae said with a smile. "She is quite rough with her words when she wishes to be. But I believe she means well in the end." Her arm encircled the dethrone queen and she patted her arm with enthusiasm.

"We must be on our way to Marmoreal if we wish to get there by foot by sundown." I said with a cold voice. Were they stupid enough to burn more hours of light? We were a group but we'd be no match for a jutter of Jabberwocks after dark. Alice nodded her head sternly.

"I suppose we must," She turned to Tarrant who offered her his arm. She took it with a smile. "Why don't you lead the way, Stayne?" She asked. "Perhaps Iracebeth can tell us a tale?"

She wanted to know more. Alice in her little clever way was trying to get Iracebeth to explain more of what had happened. Though the jilted queen wouldn't put the right spin on the story, everyone but she would come out the villain in the end. I groaned aloud when I heard Fae's childish voice speak up.

"Yes, please do," She still held onto Iracebeth's arm.

"I shall tell you no tale that isn't true." The Queen said with a stern look to Alice. "And my truths aren't pretty."

"Most truths aren't." Alice answered, pulling tighter to Tarrant. "That's why they are often avoided- the sting worse than lies."

"It started a long time ago. Before I was queen, when I was just a princess," She looked down to Fae whose wide eyes looked up to her with wonder. She was eating Iracebeth's words like treacle fudge.

"It this a tale about a princess of red?" Fae asked her.

"No, brave heart, this is a tale about a princess of white." She said with a frown. "Sometimes when we age our colors change." She gave Fae a firm tap on the hand though. "Now hush up so I can tell the story."

"I'm sorry," said Fae and she placed her hand to her mouth.

"Long ago there was a princess of white and she was exactly in the middle. She was quiet and shy and much too smart. But in the end what she had in smarts she lacked in wisdom.

"This princess you see was surrounded by the wise but sense did not come to her naturally. So she worked very hard to acquire knowledge- which I mentioned early is nowhere near close to the same- and the knowledge she thought was doing her well. She was bullied in school by a handsome boy that called her big headed and clumsy and full of hot air.

"He wouldn't have been wrong, you see, for she _was_ big headed and clumsy and full of hot air. But it wasn't entirely her fault. When she was just a small child she had gotten herself mixed up with the magicks of faraway land and her tongue had gotten her in trouble with the wisest of wizards. He knew she would never reach the wisdom of his sisters but he foresaw that she would try to compete with growing smarts. So he cursed her haughty nature, placed a curse on her head. That when it was filled up with knowledge it would puff up instead. No wisdom would be able to go through the brain, teasing and torment forever her pain."

"That is why your head is so very large?" Alice said in wonder but Iracebeth shot her angry look. Alice's hand flew to her mouth and her cheeks turned very red.

"So it was that when the girl began to read that her head began to grow. Her parents knew that she had brought the curse upon herself and they hoped that she would learn her lesson and instead grow in _sense_ but alas she'd stay stunted. For you see when she grew she tended to choose the paths that were very unwise indeed. At first it was because she hated the torment and torture but after awhile it seemed like it was something that second nature to her. She was destined to choose the paths that only a fool would take. But a fool she was.

"Her biggest mistake, however, would not come until the eve of her eighteenth birthday. Her sister was in line to take the crown at the age of twenty and the younger princess was the age of sixteen. You see that was the year that the princess laid true eyes on the Knave of Fools and she knew that she wanted this man forever. He was nothing but trouble deep down inside, she could sense it and she wanted him for all her own. Together they would do great and terrible things. They would change the dynamics of Underland and they would wrest the crown from the oldest."

"That sounds completely awful." Fae interrupted.

"The only difficulty she had with the Knave was that his heart belonged to the younger princess. He had given her a gift that could only be shared once on the day the girl turned sixteen. She had wanted it and he had longed for it. Together they gave their innocence. Forever they were bonded. You know the laws of Underland."

"I don't," Alice interrupted this time and Tarrant looked to Iracebeth. I knew that he was aware as soon as Mirana and I had given each other our chastity. It wasn't a hasty decision and she had begged for it for years. But she was too young then. That was when I began hearing that damned phrase '_I wish we were older'_ one that was never seemingly fulfilled. If it was up to the wondrous Mirana our Time would be half spent chasing to be older.

"In Underland, once innocence has been given to another (at least between courtiers and royalty) they are to marry that person. No matter what was to happen." Tarrant whispered to the blonde woman. Alice's mouth fell open.

"I understand." She nodded her head. Tarrant grasped her hand tighter but I could tell by his grip that he had not uncovered her. He was going to let her make a choice. Once that maiden grew wan, however, once she really knew that it was what she wanted and if they had not come to their sense and married she would pester them until the celebration was done. "You wanted this….this man and he had already been with the princess. It was unallowed."

"Her father had no idea that the Knave had been with the Princess of White, the youngest dove in the family, and the princess knew she would take of the Knave as soon as she had murdered her sister. The princess had felt that because she had never been given the praise of wisdom- something she lacked anyhow- that she was less approved than her sister. Had the princess had her eyes open she would have seen that her parents were doing all they could to cultivate even a seed of sense into their daughter. But this unspoken cultivation and the lack of sense that the large headed princess had gave birth to a spirit of want. She wanted everything to be done by her and for her. She wanted things to be served immediately to her. She wanted people to focus on her. There was man who had the eye of the large headed princess, a prince in a Kingdom of Red, and he thought that the girls crimson locks looked rather fine upon her rather large scalp. He wanted that princess for her beauty but he didn't know much about her. Just that her family was wise. So he spoke to his mother about what he had wanted, the Queen of the Hearts, and she agreed that her son was indeed in need of a maiden with hair of ginger. She arranged the wedding between the royals. They began to prepare and that was when the prince had known he'd done wrong.

"Perhaps the foolish notion of hasty decisions emitted from the princess herself. Perhaps she encouraged the part of oneself that he doesn't give much thought to want to act rashly. But it was too late; the prince could not back out. Especially his mother in law had taken quite a fancy to the irascible little witch. But that witch still wanted her Knave and in her mind she would get what she wanted. So she told on the two- the princess and now Knight- to the King and Queen of White. The King was furious, the Queen heartbroken, the marriage forbidden, the girl doomed to live a solemn life.

"But the Knave and his love concocted a plan." Iracebeth looked to me. I gulped. I knew I needed to confess to her best friend, to the man that she considered a brother for so long who she had wrestled with a betrayed that night, what we had wanted to do.

"The Knave and the princess," I watched the path ahead of us blankly, my voice I threw over my head. "they were going to get married in another land. They would cross the boundaries forbidden and find a place they could marry and be in peace. But the princess of near Red was coming to claim her prize. She found a milliner assaulted, a sheet tied in a rope. They had made their escape their hearts full of hope." I was beginning to rhyme; it seemed to come to me when I was most upset and it was making things clearer to Tarrant who angrily gripped Alice's hand.

"You gutless pilger-lickering-slackish-scrum-mmmrggh!" He cried indecisively. "_You _were the one that knocked me about the head that night. You were going to run like a coward to marry Mirana?" Disbelief racked his voice.

"The princess of near Red informed the newly appointed Queen but instead of sending a royal decree she went out in the night on her steed." Iracebeth picked up the story again. "To the Tugley Wood she flew in the dark and intercepted the pair in their flee. But it was too late for the princess middle had already made her way there. She made a deal with a creature worse than the devil ready to sacrifice a pair." She said with sadness in her voice.

"The pair had stumbled into the woods and they met with the force in the dark. Until the Queen on her steed came onto their path and knew that no more could be done. A mend was all that the monarch could make, she couldn't reverse that said oath. She would sacrifice herself and the Tugley Wood if they would spare the Princess and Bloke." Iracebeth said with tears in her eyes. Alice gasped.

"What was the creature?" Fae asked. I shook my head.

"Now isn't the Time for more details." Iracebeth said. "Perhaps another," She fell silent and I knew that I had to wrap up the rest of the sad tale. The story itself had taken several hours to weave and to tell and we were about two hours journey from the White Walls.

"The monsters agreed, knew they'd take other lives. And the crown of Underland went to the heartless wretch." I seethed. Iracebeth didn't object to my harsh description of her. The party remained quiet for the rest of the trip. I heard soft sniffles and I turned to see Alice, trying her best to wipe away tears that were making their ways out of her bright green eyes. Tarrant had wrapped his arm about her shoulders and held her close as he led her on behind me.

The terrible choices of some can break the hearts of many.


	18. The Other Side of a Queen

There are very few times in my life that I can honestly remember being terrified. This was one of them. We were approaching the white gates of Marmoreal with a day's sun come and gone. The journey went too fast for my liking though I suppose I would have preferred if we had never gotten there at all. If Alice and Fae weren't set on seeing the Queen herself I would have thrown in the towel. Stayne would have thrown in the towel. The coward within me was rising up again.

Alice seemed to sense my nervous state and she flew by me, having let go of Tarrant's arm. She floated across the grass up to the gate and smiled at the man who stood guard. He looked suspiciously at us as we drew close and I gulped at the large axe he held in his hand. There was no way I would be able to defend myself in a hand to hand combat against that large weapon. Alice was speaking to the guard already when we finally got to where she stood.

"Honestly, we are just here to see Mirana of Marmoreal. That is all. I have brought a couple guests with me but they have my protection as Champion." She glared at him and I was impressed to see that her kind features could be hardened to become intimidating. He nodded his head and glanced behind her. Tarrant and Fae stood before me but there was no way the two could hide my towering seven foot two frame. The grade glanced up and his face went whiter than his powdered wig.

"That is _The Knave_," He gulped and pointed his axe at me. Alice sighed and pushed his hands down.

"He is harmless. Now will you just let us through that gate so we may go and see the Queen?" She insisted.

"Nay, it was the Queen's strict orders that no one was to speak or show any kindness to that there Knave or the wretched Queen wherever she may be."

Iracebeth pushed Fae and Tarrant aside, striding between the two to come face to face with the guard. "I am here." Was all she said. The guard's hands began to shake as he held his deadly weapon in hand.

"Oops we weren't supposed to show them kindness?" Alice said with mock surprise. "I think I might have missed that memo sir. You see I've been with Tarrant Hightopp," She wrapped her arm around his with a shy smile. "And have had the two over for tea and goodies." She placed her hand against her lips. "It seems I've already broken this rule."

"She is a bit mad, however," Tarrant leaned forward and whispered in his own mad lisp. The guard stood speechless and watched as Tarrant strode by him. He began to turn the lever that lifted the gate while the guard watched wordlessly on.

"The Queen is going to be awfully angry with me," The man gulped and rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Let us handle that," Alice said with a smile and led the group of us onto the moat bridge. Fae let out a gasp of wonder, running immediately to look over the railings of the bridge.

"Look at that beautiful azure water," She breathed and Iracebeth paused to take the girl's side.

"Indeed, it is rather spectacular. My sister, Lily, had this built before she died. There really was no need for a moat in her time but it was just so proper looking for a castle." She said with a laugh. The girl's gray eyes looked to the red head.

"I sometimes forget that you once lived here too." Fae said, taking the older woman's hand in hers.

"I think many forget that she was once a princess of white," Tarrant responded and came to stand next to Fae, leaning over the railing in order to observe the running water with her.

"You will have to tell us where you slept, Iracebeth," Alice said joining the trio. I didn't move from the middle of the bridge. My basic instinct of survival still ruled my decision making. Declaring myself vulnerable by leaning over a very high ledge over very swift moving water did not appeal to this sense. Alice looked back at me with a sad look on her face.

"Really you must join us."

"I prefer the view from back here," I shook my head and she shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't about to argue with me.

"I think we're here for a visit to the Queen," Tarrant spoke up, nudging Alice gently. Alice tapped Fae on her shoulder.

"You mean that we really _are_ going to meet her!" Fae asked as a look of excitement crossed her face. Iracebeth was growing impatient with the girl, I could see it in the way that she turned harshly on her.

"No we go to the White Palace of Marmoreal just to have our backs scratched," She seethed with sarcasm. "Of course we are meeting the Queen of White you dimwitted child."

Alice shot Iracebeth a horrid look but her mouth remained closed as we entered the inner walls of the castle. Two knights parted the way as soon as they saw Alice and Tarrant. Alice held up her hand regally, she was play acting as she had as a child. She didn't really know what it was to be a queen. She just imagined that she did.

"Let me pass with my visitors. We are on Royal Business to see the Queen herself." She tilted her face up toward the sky and spoke with a husky voice. I saw Tarrant smile a little at her command. The knights both looked at each other and shrugged but parted the way for Iracebeth, Fae, and myself to enter. I could tell they were eyeing me warily as they both reached across their torsos to the opposite hip with their right hands, securing their grip on their daggers.

Though I had grown up in Marmoreal the walls were no longer familiar. The pearly color was blinding my one eye for it had grown so accustomed to the gothic coloring of Salazen Grum. Someone had dumped a bucket of bleach upon these walls no doubt. I didn't recall them ever being this white. It was most likely Mirana's attempt at trying to ignore the blood that was on our hands.

Alice strode ahead, though she would glance back warily at Tarrant. I could see in her green eyes that she wasn't really sure if this was going to work out at all. She had heard some of the background between the two Royals and the Knave but her Milliner didn't know the full story. He was best friends with Mirana but that all changed when she turned sixteen. After the Queen had given me everything he had tried to protect her. But she found him to be overbearing and useless.

'_You are only concerned because you didn't win me first_' I had heard her scream at him. I had changed Mirana, she had become the Queen that no one knew anymore. She was moody, irrational, angry at the other people in the court. Though could I blame her? Could I blame her for her rage at the whispers that were made against her? No I could not. I could only blame myself.

"Enter!" I heard Mirana's voice and turned to see that we had travelled the great hall already. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed. Two chessmen stood by the doors with weapons in hand. I glared at the one on the left with my eye, warning him to back off. Alice proceeded forward toward the Queen, a serious tone about her round face.

"Your Majesty, I bring a plea from the Tugley Woods!" She floated down the long carpet to the edge of the small staircase that elevated Mirana's throne. Mirana was sitting upon it, a scepter in her curved hands. Alice knelt to the ground on her right knee, her right hand placed on her heart. Mirana looked down at the girl coldly. It was odd- almost as if Mirana harbored a jealousy toward the blonde haired Champion. Which would make little sense; Mirana was Queen of Underland. Alice was merely her pawn. I noticed that Tarrant was soon by Alice's side, he had bowed in reverence in the exact same position.

"Champion," Mirana said with words as frigid as ice. "What sort of dogs do you bring me?"

"I bring you no dogs," Alice stood now and I noticed that her hands were clenched. " I bring you people. People who are willing to change. People who you are going to listen to because there is a problem in Tugley Woods."Alice said with calm command. Mirana's lips curved into a sneering smile.

"You bring demands forth, Champion? You are muchy indeed." She stood and gently bounced the scepter in her hands. "You have no idea what you are bringing upon yourself, Champion. You are a foolish girl bringing them back and you've broken my law."

"A horrible law it was!" She cried. Tarrant looked over to Alice with amazement but I could see in his eyes that he found it attractive that she would stand so boldly.

"I forget that our little Alice doesn't abide much by the rules." She stiffly descended the stairs and poked Alice in the ribs with her scepter. "No corset I presume."

"You are acting wretched, Mirana." Alice said with fire in her voice. Mirana paused and turned to Alice, a smile upon her face. It wasn't a true smile, however. I had seen it before. She wore it when those whispered about her and she had found them out.

"_I _am being wretched, my dear stupid Champion?" Mirana chuckled. "I am being wretched? What have I done? I am merely disappointed in a Champion, someone who _my _people look up to, so callously breaking my laws! There are rules for reasons, my foolish Alice, whether you like them or not."

"You are acting out on a grudge!" Alice yelled. I could see her cheeks becoming red in anger as she stood up for us. "You are angry that things didn't go the way they planned and you had to be stuck on the throne while your sister-"

_Slam_. _Crack._

Alice fell forward as the scepter smacked her in the back of the head. Tarrant gasped and I saw Nivens McTwisp, the cowardly page, shaking with fear in the corner.

"You insolent, ungrateful, insincere, ignorant, slurvish CHILD!" Mirana cried. "How dare you speak about such things of which you do not even know as if you wrote the history books yourself."

"You are so vengeful, Mirana," She winced and rose to her feet. Tarrant held her arm looking between him and the Queen. I could see that he was going to protect Alice whether the woman who attacked her was royalty or not. "That you would break your own vows?"

Mirana turned white, her hand resting on the diamond adorned ball of the silver scepter. Her dark eyes looked over at me.

"You don't know what you are getting yourself into, Alice." She narrowed her eyes now, walking past the Champion. She ignored the other woman's glare. She now walked up to Fae.

"You, little troublemaker," She said. I could see she was angry and it was bringing forth the madness that she had tried so long to control.

"You aren't a very nice Queen." Fae said with disgust. I heard a thud as McTwisp succumbed to his nerves.

"You don't think me pleasant?" Mirana asked her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Mirana and I are from the same womb, you dolt. Do you not think that two sisters can succumb to fury?" Iracebeth spoke up. Mirana turned to her sister.

"Ahhh, Racey," She said with a cold smile. "I thought you would be dead by now."

"Thought or hoped?" She narrowed her own dark eyes at her taller and whiter sister.

"I see that you bring along the little orphan child who has been ransacking her village with tricks and spooks." Mirana turned her back on her sister and went to Fae. "Do you not think the trees whisper such things to me?" She lowered her voice as she spoke to Fae. The girl's gray eyes glared up to her. "But you need some sort of distraction if you are going to steal food, aren't you?"

"You damn Jabberwocks keep stealing at my game!" She screamed, spitting in Mirana's face. Mirana took her pale hand and wiped away the spittle.

"I see you have spirit. I am surprised you don't scare those beasts away."

"Mirana, we need to get rid of them." Alice said. I looked over to see her nursing the back of her head with a cupped hand but she turned in anger on the Queen. "I don't know what kind of potion you made to numb the pain you have been feeling as you were held hostage by emotions, by your sister's threat, and by your failure to act but there is no need to act in anger toward us."

"There is no need?" Mirana bellowed. "There is no need to act in rage at the people who have ruined my life? Who killed my sister? Who took my chances of ever marrying?" She turned on me, anger in her eyes.

"You took that away from yourself," Alice said. Mirana turned on Alice.

"Perhaps my dear sister and her Knave haven't told you the _whole_ story."

"Iracebeth. She was the one who was supposed to be sacrificed." Tarrant said aloud. "We know it all Mirana." I was surprised that the man had spoken up.

"Then you now know that my younger years were anything but pretty and it was all because of that slurvish man who pretended to love me," Mirana looked to Alice.

"I did love you," I spoke up. She turned on me now. I knew that I should be quiet, that I should just blend into the white walls. But how could a man as black as me hope to camouflage into the pure innocence of his surroundings. "I still love you, Mirana."

I saw the hurt in her brown eyes, the pain that had been building for so many years. They had looked into my dark ones, when they were both whole, when we were together on her white bed. They always said the same thing.

"_I wish we were older."_

She had spoken them. She knew what I thought. I looked over to her.

"Mirana, this vendetta you have is not against your Champion nor the girl who hides in the woods and frightens the village people to survive. It is a small fraction against Iracebeth," I felt the courage building in my heart. "But most of it is against me."

Her dark lips were silent as she looked me over. I held out my gloved hand to her, Iracebeth looking over to me in shock. Alice and Tarrant both stood gaping. Only Fae looked slightly proud that I had spoken up.

"Let's not fight with actions, anymore, my love." I said gently. "Let us fight with words."

Mirana twirled one of her great white locks around a finger, her eyes looking at me with distrust. But she was breathing with less force, her mouth no longer in an eternal scowl. I saw a tear slide down her cheek. She turned to Alice, her arms outstretched.

"I am sorry, my Champion." She said with conviction but Alice didn't come towards her. Fae looked at Mirana with disdain.

"How can one so wise not know that mending can't be done if the wounds are kept from closing?" She said with disgust. Mirana hung her head in shame. She turned to Fae and opened her mouth but the girl shook her uneven hair. "I will accept no apologies until my Queen has returned. All I see before me is a hurt teenager whose only thought is on herself." Mirana sighed and placed her hand on Fae's shoulder.

"You are right, young one. Sometimes with wisdom we forget that there is courage." She turned to me, her dark eyes catching mine. "It is time to do the right thing."

"Become a lion hearted girl, Mirana," Alice stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know that the great Queen is inside. She has shown herself before."

Mirana tipped her head to the Champion.

"It has been too long, Iloso," She said and I shuddered at the use of a nickname long dead for nineteen years. "Let us have our battle of words."

She marched past me and made her way to a teal door. I followed her, looking back nervously at the group. I didn't know if she had stored a giant axe or sharp dagger behind that door.

"I am sorry that I struck our Champion, having broken my vow," She turned to show us the back of her head. Blood flecked her silver blonde hair. The wound Alice should have received had been inflicted on the Queen instead. "But I assure you no physical harm will come to you behind this door." She opened it with a twist of the knob and a slight push of the hand. It flew open silently on well oiled hinges revealing a study.

"Come, Iloso, we have business to discuss."

I walked into the room and bared something I hadn't unearthed in years. I opened my heart and readied myself to have it torn once again by the woman I was still foolishly in love with. I was not the Knave of Cowardice anymore. But I still remained a Jack of Fools.

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><p><strong>AN: I am aware that Mirana seems like she is a little OOC. But I promise that it is my take on the madness that dwells below that Hathaway talked about. More shall be explained *rubs hands together* :) That's all the info you get for now.**


	19. I Love You

**A/N: Sorry it took so darn long for me to update this! And I just wanted to warn you guys that this is pushing T. Like very much pushing it haha. Sexual content below.**

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><p>We had been young fools, Mirana and I. The day she turned fifteen (I was nearly the haughty age of eighteen and was rising my way up the ranks of the White Army, proving to be a resourceful officer) she insisted that I asked her Father, the King, for the privilege to court her.<p>

If that doesn't show how naïve we were, perhaps the fact that I had actually done so would.

Of course he refused me. Mirana was not a courtier waiting for a nice Lord like me. She was a Princess; she was to marry Princes from other realms. She would see only Princes in romantic settings as Iracebeth was doing now. We all knew Lily had little interest in marrying, she thought she could do so much more with the scepter in _her _hand. The King did not want to see two daughters left unwed.

I was to leave Mirana's fancies be and encourage her to fall in love with a prince. So naturally…Mirana and I began to court in secret. We would spend hours in her quarters, whispering to each other in the corner of her room trying not to alert the maids that there was more than 'the little girl' in the room. Mirana hated that everyone considered her as a baby. She was the youngest but she had shown capabilities far beyond what Iracebeth had demonstrated. She wanted people to treat her like an adult. So of course, I obliged.

We were young and we were stupid, as I've said before. We may have rushed into things a little too quickly. We had waited until her sixteenth birthday; I didn't want to get her or myself in further trouble by committing to a girl who was underage. The day a woman turned sixteen in the court she was able to start looking for a husband. Mirana was no different; her father had arranged for her to travel to the Kingdom of Blue later that weekend to meet several of the young princes there. She had done her best to refuse but not even a princess could defy the royal decree of the King. She would have to go but not before she snuck me into her room that night.

I arrived under the Cheshire Cat like grin of the moon, climbing my way up the trellises she had installed next to her balcony. Her mother had beamed at her daughter's desire to make appearances around the castle more appealing- she would have had a Bandersnatch had seen known she had asked for them so that I had a ladder in and out of her room.

She was sitting at her vanity in the dim candle light brushing out her long white locks. I noticed that she was wearing only a corset and a pair of white knickers and I lowered my gaze as I clambered over the white marble handrail. Mirana must have heard me for I heard her calling my name softly so as not to alert anyone to my presence.

"Iloso," She stood and came toward me with a smile. I blushed as I looked upon her in the half dressed state she stood in but my long fingers couldn't resist the urge to reach out and stroke her soft silver blonde locks. She smiled as she wrapped a hand around my wrist.

"What are you doing out here in your skivvies?" I kept my voice low as I ushered her back into the room through the large French doors. I shut them behind me, locking in the warmth that the cold night air was stealing from her room. She shot me a sly smile as she climbed onto her bed.

"I turned sixteen today, Iloso." She said and motioned for me to sit with her. I was glad that I had chosen to wear a pair of breeches and a loose shirt, much more comfortable than the Officer's uniform I wore most of the time. I slid onto the bed and turned to face her, one leg tucked under my body the other hanging loosely off the bed. I swung the dangling one in time to the mantle clock that sat ticking away upon the fireplace. The flame was blazing providing the room with warmth. I could see she was cold as she hugged her bare arms to herself.

"Indeed you did. But do you think that makes you impervious to the cold?" I asked and was about to rise to fetch her robe when she reached out and grabbed my arm. She tugged on me gently and I sidled closer. She nestled close against my body which caused me to wrap my arm around her.

"Can you believe that we've been seeing each other for a year?" She asked as she gently played with the strings upon my shirt.

"I remember when you were just a little eight year old beauty." I agreed. She let out a snort.

"I thought you were the most ungodly, awful little scoundrel."

"That's because I was." I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"I suppose. But we righted you out," She leaned up to kiss my cheek softly. "And look at you now! You are a high ranking Officer in the White Army, Iloso! You'll be leading the troops out to war soon enough as a Captain." She gently reached back to rub her nails along my back. I purred at the sensation. "You have become a man, Iloso. A man of courage, a man of strength, a man of resource, and one I am proud to know." A smile flitted across her lips as I looked down at her. "But there is something that I haven't told you yet and I should have but I just wanted to wait for the right moment."

"Mira, you can tell me anything," I said softly, encouraging her to speak. Her face went white and her lips turned a shade of gray in embarrassment. She sucked in a large breath before opening her mouth once more.

"Ilosovic Stayne- I love you." She pulled away from me and rose on her knees, slowly her hands pushed against my chest to lay me back. She straddled my hips and I placed my hands instinctively on her long white thighs. They radiated warmth and the skin was so tender, I could feel myself growing wan by the moment.

"Mirana, I love you more than you could imagine," I groaned.

"Iloso, I have never seen so much change in one person, so much change for the better," She leaned over and kissed my lips softly. "I will never love a prince because you are going to be mine. I knew that when we danced that night. I still thought before than that you just wanted a piece of me because I was a princess. You have proved me wrong; you've done nothing but treat me like a lady and a normal one at that. You aren't all about my title or my crown or the power that I could possess."

"Because none of that is you, my Mirana," My breeches were growing tighter and I could peak at her fully developed mounds under the corset as she leaned over me. I knew at that moment I wanted her and I struggled into a sitting position, her still propped upon my lap. She moaned as my lips flew to a place they had never been- her soft tender neck. I left a lick upon the skin and she shuddered.

"I want to give you everything," Mirana groaned. I should have seen that as a hormonally driven promise, one made by a silly sixteen year old virgin. But my body was in just as much want. Eagerly my long fingers flew to her corset as she wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing my lips roughly. She tasted exotic and forbidden in this moment, with pleasure I finally loosed the undergarment. Pulling it away I found to my delight two perfectly formed pure white mounds upon her chest which I went eagerly to licking and nipping, she let go of several moans and cuss words as my tongue tickled her senses. She pushed me away in order to rip off my shirt, her eyes smiling in delight as she noticed the muscles I had developed in my military training. She ran her hands along them with wonder but I was too driven right now by her tantalizing breasts and her smooth, taut white stomach. I pushed her hands back and began to kiss them furiously. I shifted our positions so that I lay atop of her, she was pinned underneath. I knew what I wanted next.

I wasn't tactful about it due to my raging teenage hormones in that moment and the fact that I had never been with a woman this way before. I climbed off the bed and quickly removed the rest of my clothing. Mirana watched and her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates when she saw what lay beneath my breeches and knickers. I think she never had imagined male anatomy to be so…muchy.

"Iloso," She gasped as I climbed back over her. "I've never done this before and-" Her voice dropped off and I could see she was nervous. It pulled at my heart strings and I leaned over to kiss the curve of where her neck met her shoulder.

"Shhh," I soothed her as I began to nibble the skin and she writhed in desire. Her body was ready but I wouldn't move on if she wasn't. "I haven't either," I admitted. She smiled up to me with a squeal and parted her long alabaster legs.

"I knew you loved me," She wrapped her arms around my neck and twirled her fingers in my hair. I began to enter her depths, slowly. Pain twisted across her face and she grunted.

"Love," I said pausing. "Are you alright?"

"It's a tad bit painful," She said with bated breath. "Keep going, I am sure it's like a new dress. Once you start-" She stopped talking as I began to move. After a few moments her grunting and stopped and began to turning into soft whimpers. I paused again concerned. "No, no, go on!" She moaned. I obliged willingly, a sensation growing in my core that I knew from testing things out with my hands. I was growing closer to the edge of release. Mirana's fingers now scratched my scalp as they entwined further in my hair. I moved quickly and soon she was screaming my name. I covered her mouth with mine in a kiss. It was in time too because with a jerk my release had come and I called out her name in the cavity of her lips. Slowly I pulled away from her, both of us a little sweaty from the ordeal. She was shaking a little but a grin upon her lips showed me that she was alright.

"Oh Iloso," She moaned and I reached down to kiss her chin and neck. She raked her fingernails down my well muscled back. I felt a euphoria I had never felt on my own before and was about to position her next to my body in hope that perhaps I would again rise to the occasion when I noticed blood in the sheets and smeared across my loins.

"Dammit," Mirana said and stood, her wrist upon her temple as she thought what to do.

"It's because you're a virgin," I groaned. We should have chosen somewhere else to copulate where blood could be easily hidden or cleaned. Mirana smiled.

"I know!" She said with a smile. "I'll just get dressed and summon Tarrant. He won't tell anyone, I know he wouldn't! And he could easily get us some sheets, he's always around the different fabrics-"

"I don't know Mirana," I said with doubt in my voice.

"It's perfect!" She assured me and went to her mahogany dresser, reaching a hand in to snatch the cloth. She squatted and tenderly cleaned her bloody streaked core then stood to rinse the cloth. She looked beautiful bathed in the moonlight and I was beginning to rise again. She giggled at my body's attempt and tossed me the cloth. She quickly went to change as I wiped her blood from my own core.

"You just have to stay hidden." She said as she pulled her robe about her shift, I gulped with a nod of my head. I crept quietly into her wardrobe as she left the room.

I don't know how long I waited but it seemed like an eternity. I heard the door open and peeked out to see Mirana entering the room. I stepped out of the furniture in which I had concealed myself but it was too early. I walked right into the room where Mirana _and_ Tarrant stood. The milliner gasped at my unclothed body and I scrambled to grab my breeches and shimmy them up my thighs. I peered over to see Mirana blush in the dim candlelight. Tarrant had a frown upon his face.

"Please, Rant, you can't tell _anyone_," Mirana said in a hush. Tarrant mechanically nodded his head of orange hair and Mirana held out the sheets to me. "Rant was going to help me but since you've come out you could do it just as easily, Iloso."

"I can help," Tarrant said with a thick voice. I shook as he looked at me; I would be in so much trouble if it were found out that I was sleeping with the White Princess. I could lose my job and Mirana and my reputation would be at stake. Tarrant worked quickly with me to change the soiled linens. Mirana thanked him.

"I'll dispose of these for you, your highness." He bowed with rage marked in his movements. Mirana didn't seem to notice, she was still on cloud nine.

"Why thank you Tarrant," She beamed. I moved since helping Tarrant remake the soiled bed and now stood near the door. He came by me and I could hear him mutter to me.

"You do anything to hurt her after you used her and I'll personally cut off that dick of yours." He threatened. I knew he was serious as well. He cared for Mirana deeply and I could see the hurt that crossed his face. He roughly brushed by me before leaving the room.

I turned my attention back to Mirana who was eagerly propped on the bed. She had taken her robe off and I could see her mounds clearly under the thin shift. My breeches were once again growing tighter.

"I'm ready for something new," Mirana winked and had me lay down this time as she straddled me. The night was filled with moans and kisses and names being yelled into the other's mouth. As Mirana and I shared out most intimate parts I realized how wonderful out connection was. How strongly I loved her.

She would leave later that week for the Kingdom of Blue but we made love every night before. She said she couldn't wait to get back just to see me and speak with me and share with me.

But someone else had found out about our little bonding times. Another redhead had noticed Tarrant caring bloody sheets from her sister's corridor to the furnace room. She had gone to the Stayne's home to find that Ilosovic was not in but was out for a late night training session.

And quickly that person put two and two together.

She began to plan to make out lives a living hell.


	20. Word from the Wise

Mirana had ushered me into her office and I stood uncomfortably as she went to sit primly at her great white oak desk. She looked so formal sitting there among seals and stamps, various papers detailing treaties and boundary marks were spread across the surface.

"I certainly know you didn't call me into your private quarters so we can talk about Underland's borders." I said not wanting to dodge the large elephant in the corner of the room. She sighed deeply before knitting her fingers together in a perch for her chin, her elbows resting on the desk.

"I wish that I could just kill you already and get you over and done with," She said with hostility.

"This isn't about us anymore Mirana. I thought at the beginning of all this madness that perhaps you could forgive me and set me free from your tyrannical little sibling. But as I entered the Tugley Woods I saw that there were much grander things at risk." I began to observe the knick knacks she kept on her large marble bookcase.

"Since when did the illusive Stayne become so caring about little forest brats?" Mirana asked and I turned to see her sitting upright, her hands still crossed at neck level before her. Her dark left eyebrow raised in a high arch. "You were always about yourself Stayne."

"Don't insult me that way, Mirana." I couldn't stand the hostility anymore. "This little game you have is completely infantile. It's no longer about what you and I had. It's about saving the sorry asses of your best friend and his little Champion girlfriend." I growled. "It's not always about you either, Mirana. Perhaps my heeding to your every wish and whim in our relationship engorged this notion inside of you. It's not just my fault that the Jabberwocks moved to the Tugley Woods."

"That blame rests on Iracebeth's head." Mirana said venomously. I went back to examining her knick knacks trying to keep my rage under control. "Ignoring me isn't going to solve this problem, is it Stayne?"

"Nor is dredging up the past," I picked up a little white carving of a swan, running it through my calloused fingers. It was so smooth against my rough skin. The swan, I couldn't believe she had kept it. I had brought it to her one night after a day of torment for the young princess. They had called her all types of names. But she wasn't in the wrong. I would never believe she was in the wrong or that she was a scarlet woman because she decided to sleep with me. She was the best thing that ever happened to me whether she wanted to admit it or not. I squeezed the swan in my giant hand. I had carved this for her when I was sent out on a patrol after having been newly appointed Captain just as my love had suggested. My dream of coming to Mirana on that White Horse had been renewed again and I knew that it was a matter of time. I could speak to Lily and she would make sure that I could marry the woman I loved.

"I am working from my experience." She said indignantly.

"You are working from your emotions," I corrected her and placed the swan upon her desk. "Why do you still have this?" She remained silent this time. "I went to Lily, you know." I turned to look out the long rectangular window that lay on the wall adjacent to the book case with its literature and its momentos. The sky was a deep gray as threatening storm clouds blew in from the West.

"What?" She said after a minute, her voice thick.

"I went to Lily, I asked her to convince her parents for your hand."

_It was a stormy day such as this one; I had come back from patrol and eagerly met with Mirana. I presented her with the swan and she presented me with another warm night next to her. I knew that this masquerade we had wouldn't be able to continue. The girls were right when they whispered that I was taking advantage of her. I was, not committing myself to fighting to be with her. I was going to go to Lily; the King and Queen would never listen to a Knave even if he had become a Captain now and certainly not if they knew just what he had swiped from their daughter. No doubt the doting King would have his head upon a platter just as Iracebeth's mother in law demanded daily. _

_So to Lily I went one afternoon, boldly proceeding into her corridor with my Captain's uniform on. No one would interrupt me or try to stop me when I wore my military outfit. They would all assume that I was on Empirical business and would let me proceed forth. Lily was days away from taking the crown from her elderly father as it was, any moment now he would pass and she would ascend. _

_I went eagerly, banging on the door with extreme enthusiasm. I expected a chamber maid to open the door and was ready with a demand to speak with Lily in private but instead was greeted by the long face of the Princess herself._

"_Captain Stayne," She said and the door burst open. "What brings you to my quarters this evening?"_

"_It's not empirical duties, your Majesty," I bowed, pressing my hand to my stomach. She motioned for me to take a chair at a table. I noticed that the door did not open into her bed quarters but more of a sitting room. Another door against a further wall must have lead to her sleeping room; this must be where she met with those who wished to address the King and the Queen through her._

"_I assumed as much." She said. "The Kingdom isn't in any danger."_

"_It's about your sister," I said._

"_The one you have been copulating with I assume?" She said smoothly. I felt my cheeks burning red._

"_You've heard about that?"_

"_Rumor spreads quickly, Stayne. Though I am no longer in school I still hear the little school girl spider webs." She came to sit in large chair across from me, crossing her leg elegantly as she sat. I noticed how very pretty the woman was. Far more beautiful than Mirana was, I felt ashamed to say. Her long strawberry blonde locks fell in loose ringlets about her long face, her lips a light pink. She had bright hazel eyes that sat evenly spaced in her head. She wore no makeup unlike both of her sisters which caused her to appear even more appealing and I wanted to tell her all of my secrets. The way she carried herself spoke that she kept secrets. "I don't listen to rumors, however Stayne." She pulled me from my observations._

"_Oh," Was all I could manage._

"_I heard from Tarrant Hightopp himself." She said as a smile revealed her pearly white teeth._

"_That little guddler's scut." I swore, my fist pounding the arm rest of the chair._

"_Don't think poorly of him. He has only told me and he has only told me because he worries so about Mirana. He knew that I would know just what to do with the situation." _

"_I love your sister," I said quickly. I didn't want her to think that I was just messing around with her because I thought it was a fun distraction. I found that some soldiers used woman as a distraction or as a sort of drug. That wasn't so, I loved Mirana of Marmoreal more than it seemed was humanly possible._

"_I know that you love her, you wouldn't have waited so long for her to give herself away if you didn't. A whole year; that is quite a feat, young Stayne."_

"_How do you know all of this?" I said, my bowels trembling with the idea that the monarch themselves might know. _

"_I have ears, I have eyes, I have experience, and I have wisdom. Mixed with a little discernment, Stayne, and one can pick up their surrounding quite easily." She said with a sly grin. I sighed, placing my hands on my face._

"_I just want to marry your sister."_

"_My parents would never agree." She said with a laugh. "You will have to wait until I become Queen and with Father getting draughts from Fairy Apothecaries he'll live for as long as he wants. That is assuming nothing happens to his heart." She said pointedly. I frowned._

"_Do they not want to see you take over the crown?"_

"_Power does funny things to people, Stayne. Sometimes people are able to balance power and themselves but mostly power takes over people. My parents, while not tyrants, are in no quick rush to hand over all they have achieved to me. I think they still see me as a young girl, but a child is always that to his parents. If you aren't careful, Stayne, you will learn that earlier than you expect."_

"_Mirana isn't pregnant."_

"_I know, she's come to me as well and told me what has happened. I've been supplying her with the right potions. She didn't want to give up the intimacy with you and I don't want her to live with the shame of becoming a mother too young in life. She is soon going to have to bear the weight of people whispering about her free choices. She is a wise little girl but sometimes she forgets that every action, good or bad, has consequences always attached. She won't get pregnant, she won't lose you, and she is lucky for this. She isn't taking that for granted. But she is taking it so that people are going to whisper. I fear that Iracebeth may know about this." _

"_Oh god,"_

"_And we all know that my sister has quite the crush on you. I am not sure if it is because you showed her decency after years of torment or whether it is because you are becoming quite the handsome and accomplished young soldier. My sister would sleep with a man to find pleasure and attention. She would not love him before she warmed his bed. My little sister is imprudent and destructive and I fear what she will do one day." Lily said with a frown. "But you did not come here to take about Beth. You came here to speak of Mira. And I am sorry, Stayne, but I will not go forth. I will be denied anyways and besides my sister is only sixteen and a half. You can't believe that she is ready for marriage. She is still too young. Let her grow up a few more years. Let her reach the age of nineteen. Then, if my parents are still alive, I will go with her forward and we will reason."_

"_She doesn't want to reason."_

"_No sixteen year old filly head over heels wants to reason. It goes against their nature." The woman rolled her eyes. "I don't even see what the attraction is toward males anyways, it's the females that are more caring and elegant but that is not what we are discussing today either. There is not point talking about a subject that one should not focus on for the moment." She said as she stood stiffly. "I am sorry that I could not grant you your wish." _

"_I understand, but you haven't completely denied me, I suppose." I said with a sigh._

"_No, you are a correct. It is a wait." She said and held out her slender hand. I took it and kissed it. "I condone your love; it's healthy. And you aren't the only one who wishes that the laws weren't so old and stilted." She said with a sigh. I thanked her for her time and she walked me to the door._

"_I know you will take care of my sister's heart, Stayne. Be careful, she is a delicate creature. I know Tarrant will be after you in a heartbeat if you dare shatter it. He already wanted to go after you with his Claymore but he's still a bit too weak and a bit too haughty to go wielding the weapon." She said with a laugh."Besides there is another out there for him. She just hasn't fallen down to us yet."_

"_I promise your sister's heart will always be safe within my hands."_

"_You hold it there even if it seems she has ripped it back. She won't know how to go on living with your hand away from it." She said with foreseeing. I nodded my head and left the room. I turned one last time to see her standing in the doorway, watching me go with a smile._

"I always knew my sister had affections for woman." Mirana said with a smile. "I suppose it was stupid of me to think I was the only one who was suffering."

"Mirana, I still love you." I said and came to stand before her desk. She reached out and picked up the pale swan in her finger. She frowned as she looked it over before glancing up to me with her large black eyes.

"I wish we were older." She whispered.

_Damn that phrase._


	21. I Wish We Were Older

Mirana and I had been together for nearly two years and time was flying. Though I say together we weren't actually physically with each other those two years. I had a lot of training and responsibility in becoming a Captain which usually meant that I was away for many days at a time. But she always greeted me with open arms and parted legs when I came back. Our intimate times together bonded us closer and I found that I was more in tuned with her emotions and desires when we were more together in that way. It was a perfectly word for us, that is until Iracebeth had spread her fire.

I had come back from a two week long trek into the countries of Ipalm and the outer parts of the Outterlands watching for peculiar Jabberwocky trends. The frumious creatures had been given boundary lines by all the kingdoms not to cross into land that contained Underlandian citizens. But several clans in Ipalm had reported sighting the large beast. This was absolutely unaccepted to us and it was something that needed harsh punishment if the rumors were indeed true. We had gone forth and discovered that a small Jabberwock had indeed been trying to make his home in the edges of the Ipalmaian forest and we were quick in its execution and disposal. It took me and three strong burly men to bring the small Jabberwock down and even more manpower in order to relocate the carcass. I had come home tired though elated that I had done something great in the eyes of Underland. My mother had made me a great goose dinner in celebration and had ordered a special cake from one of the bakeries in the Tugley Wood. I had felt a little embarrassed that my mother was making a rather large to-do about the slaying (as if I had done it single handedly) and I didn't have time to see Mirana that night due to all the festivities. Though in hindsight I suppose it was quite an accomplishment for one of the biggest troublemakers the school of Marmoreal had ever seen to rise all the way to become Captain of the White Guard.

Though, the school had other things to talk about I would learn the next morning.

I came to Mirana's chambers the next afternoon; not too early to wake her from a sound sleep but not too late that we couldn't spend hours together, only to find that she had been weeping. She lay prone on her bed, her face buried in the pillow and her shoulders shaking with her cries. I immediately closed the door behind me before rushing to her side. I threw myself on the bed beside her and gathered her in my arms. Big, hot tears fell down her face as he cradled her close. Her nose was also running and he noticed she had rubbed it raw. How long had she been bawling for?

"Mira, my love, why are you crying so?" I kissed her cheek gingerly as she now seemed to realize my arms were around her. She pulled me close but her tears didn't cease. I merely held her there and stroked her long white hair that hung in knots down her back. I sat up gently, she still wrapped about my waist. My heart broke; I didn't know what to do for her. So I just rocked her back and forth in my lap as if she were a small child.

After several minutes she finally spoke up, her voice thick through her tears, and I struggled to hear her as she mumbled.

"They are…are talking about us." She said her voice nasally due to her full nose. I leaned back and looked into her dark eyes, wiping away the tears gently.

"What do you mean, my love?"

"They are calling me a whore Princess." She said. "Someone has told them that we are…we are…sleeping together!" She wailed. "What are my parents going to say?"

"They are merely rumors," I said recalling my conversation with Lily. "They will merely think that people are jealous."

"Oh, Iloso, I don't want them to think ill of me!" She cried. "I just want to be with you."

"What else are they saying?"

"It _has_ to be Tarrant! No one else knew! I thought he was a friend. I thought he could keep a secret." She untangled herself from my arms and went to stand before me; she was still dressed in her nightgown. She floated across the room to the vanity and splashed cool water about her face. I was glad to see that she was gaining back her composure. She gathered her long silver blonde hair in her hands and began to twist it up in the back of her head.

"They are saying that my wisdom has gotten to my head. That just because I am smarter and more pretty than everyone else in the entire I think now that I can get whatever I want and then get away with it. They pretend that they don't realize that I am there when they say words like _slut _and _harlot_ and _loose_." She let go off the bun she had created but had not secured and it fell in a cascade down her back. "I'm not any of these, am I Iloso?" She asked. I sighed.

"No, my love." He said. "You are with me because you love me. We aren't copulating like animals, we aren't having sex for the feelings, we are truly making love."

She only collapsed onto the stool next to the mirror, her hands flying to cover her face. I returned to her side and knelt so that my face was by hers.

"I want to get married, Iloso," She peered up from her hands after more torturous moments of silence.

"We can't, my love." I said, placing my hand on the curve of her cheek after I nudge hers away. "We can't get married now. Your parents would never see to it."

"You are right," She said and sat upright in the chair. She took her brush in her hand and began to run it through her long locks. It made ripping noises every time it encountered a knot in the silky smooth cascade. She would pull hard and grimace until the sounds stopped.

"Perhaps when Lily becomes Queen," I suggested. "You are only seventeen after all," I went from my kneeling to a sitting position on the floor, gathering my long legs into a crossed position.

"What are you saying? That I am too young to know what love is?" She asked with anger lining her voice.

"No, no that's not at all what I was suggesting, my dear." I shook my head vigorously.

"That's all I hear nowadays. I can't get married because I am too young, I can't make my own decisions because I am too young, I can't have sex because I am too young." She had stood and began to pace viciously. "I wish I was older." She cursed. I stood.

"As do I. Perhaps they would listen to use more if we were just a few more years aged." I came to stand and took her in my arms. She smiled up to me warmly after I loosened my embrace on her.

"I have missed you," She said quietly. I placed a kiss on the top of her crown.

"Why don't we go riding today? Your friends will have nothing more to whisper about and it will get your mind onto something else."

"Alright, let me change into my habit." She said with joy spreading into her features. I was glad that I was able to mend something that day.

Later that week I strode with fury up to the table that Tarrant shared with his friends; Thackery Earwhicket and Tinsley Dormis. Thackery and Tarrant were causing all types of mischief as they tossed scones at one another in fun. The table was set outside of the Hightopp abode in the Tugley Woods and I found the two engaged in a food battle as they were arguing over who had cheated in the game of Chess. Tingsley had his head resting upon the table. If I was in a more pleasant mood I would have wondered where Mallymkun was. But I was not in the mood for making party conversation. I was in the mood for no conversation. I was more in the mood to crush Tarrant Hightopp's skull with my bare fists.

"YOU!" I roared, pointing my white gloved fist at the merry milliner. He looked up, shocked to see me. Thackery glanced my way and Tinsley looked up from the table.

"Uh oh," I heard the hare gasp. I stormed forward and grabbed Tarrant by his multi colored ascot, dragging him toward the back of his house. I ripped him from behind me and shoved him against the wall of the home, lifting him up off his feet.

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?" I asked with a growl and he looked at me confused.

"Enjoying a tea party that's why I think I am doing. What are _you_ doing picking me up by the collar like so." He tried to squirm away.

"_Somebody's told about Mirana and I_," I seethed and pressed against the man's jugular. The bowler hat the man had been wearing knocked from his red waves. He began to make a gurgling sound as I cut off his air.

"It…wasn't…me…" He struggled to say.

"Really? Who else knew, Tarrant? Who else knew that we had…done what he done?" I growled.

"I swear I only told one person! Lily! And she wouldn't _dare_ tell anyone else!" Tarrant said as I let go of his throat so he was able to breathe more.

"Do you know what people are saying?" I growled.

"You would if you were more our age!" He said and I felt fire burning in my dark eyes.

"What are you saying, Hightopp?" I asked.

"Merely if you were perhaps our age," He said.

"I am tired of ages. Did you know that I am tired of that phrase?" I thrust him to the ground. "That is all I hear from Mirana. _I wish we were older._ There is no sense wishing such silly things." Tarrant still lay there glaring at me and it took all my might not to just punch him right then and there. "You are ruining Mirana because you weren't silent!" I growled.

"I told you! I didn't tell anyone!" He insisted. The back door of the Hightopp abode swung open, the wooden door bouncing against the wall. Out came a very slender but very stern looking woman with long red hair in braids and a stern frown on her face.

"What seems to be the problem?" She demanded and I realized that this was Mrs. Hightopp- not someone I wanted to mess with. I backed away and Tarrant was getting up.

"Nothing, Mum, Ilosovic just had a question about Mirana is all." He said and wiped away some blood that had begun to flow from his lip. His amber eyes followed me as I backed away.

"Yes, ma'am," I agreed, heart pounding in my ears. "Don't mean to cause any trouble or anything." I backed away slowly but he gaze bore down on me just as harshly.

"I expect you're going to be running along then, Captain?" She asked and I bowed slightly.

"Of course, Ma'am." I said and turned to leave.

It was the last time that I'd see Tarrant Hightopp as a decently sane man.

I returned to the castle that night, once again immediately going to Mirana's room. She was crying once again and it broke my heart to see that she was so broken.

"Mira, please, love their words mean nothing." I came in and tried to pull her into my arms.

"I wish we were older!" She screamed as she pushed me away. "I just want to make _my _own decisions for _my_ life and not have other people telling me what to think and see and feel!"

"Mira, oh Mira," I said stood with my hands on my hips. "No one can force you to feel anything you don't want to and nobody can force you to believe anything you don't want. You just can't make every action you want to make right now."

"I don't want to hear that!" She said. "I am nearly seventeen years old and I could become Queen if something bad happened in this land!" Her back was turned to me as she tiraded around the room, her fists in bunches.

"Turn around," I said and she obeyed hesitantly. She had a large bruise on her right cheek which led to a gasp emitting from my lips.

"That filthy Hightopp girl was saying things about me. My best friend's brother."

"The one that told people everything?" I said. She shook her long white hair as she placed her hand to her mouth, tears streaming down her face and mucus from her nose. I pulled forth a handkerchief from my pocket and came close to clean her emotion streaked face.

"Why are those I love betraying me! I heard rumor that Iracebeth's been saying things as well." A moan issued from her lips.

"Trust me, I will _never _run away or betray you." I murmured into her hair. She held tightly to me, so tightly that I could barely look down to grab her lips in mine. I took her by the hand as I locked lips with my love; my tongue beginning a war with hers in her small, delicate mouth. She let go of my hands in order to begin stripping off her gown.

Her tears made me feel bad about entering her body that day but I did because it was a comfort to her. I didn't want to hear her crying or screaming anymore. But even making love with her didn't cease her cries. She pushed me farther into herself, each breath ragged from tears and from exertion. She was on an emotional brink and I felt completely incapable of anything. All I could do was hold on as I moaned her name.

"I wish we were older," She said as I was pushing into her. The phrase was growing stale in my ears but I didn't want to upset her any longer. Her body had been stimulated enough to bring her to the edge of euphoria and she lay, shuddering underneath my warm body from the feeling. But her heart wasn't in it. She was empty.

"Let's elope," She said and I looked down at her with large eyes. "They'll have to take me back because I am a Princess; they just won't have a say in who I love anymore."

I pulled myself from off her body and sighed. "Alright," I couldn't believe I was agreeing. "Meet me tomorrow at ten in the morning. I will have horses summoned for us and we can go to one of the Outer regions. Wear a less conspicuous dress; you'll have to pretend to be a plain Mirana instead of THE Mirana." I cupped her cheek as hot tears poured from her dark eyes again. "Don't cry now. We'll make this right."

"I WISH WE WERE OLDER!" She thrust her head into the pillow and her shoulders wracked with tears again.

I still don't know if she was more terrified than I was in that moment.


	22. What Happened

_Reader, I must warn you that things are not going to get any prettier. One thinks the Frabjous Day is the worst day in all of Underlandian History. But really it was only a small square in the Chessboard of a large war. Many a tale of lovers forbidden has led to great conflict and great loss of life. I am sorry to say that mine is no different. If Mirana and I had not been forbidden, or perhaps if I hadn't fallen in love with her, Alice wouldn't have even had been needed. The King and Queen of White would be alive. Underland wouldn't have lived in constant fear for centuries, a family wouldn't have been destroyed. But most of all Underland wouldn't have lost a woman who would become their greatest leader yet. I lost more than just Mirana that day. For many years I had also lost my hope._

_But I am glad to say, Reader that this tale ends pleasantly enough. There is a happy ending but like most other stories you can't skip the sad parts in order to get to the happy sunshine filled days. You have to suffer through the memories that rip open old scars. But those memories only lead to a much more satisfying ending. It is easier to appreciate what you have when it has all been stripped away at one point._

* * *

><p>Mirana was punctual. She arrived dressed in a plain pale green frock with a white apron at the stables, a small with her things pack in a small handbag. I had prepared two of the most powerful horses for our ride; a large bay and a medium sized Palomino for I and Mirana respectively. I was thankful that my dear had become an excellent horsewoman in the time that she had spent with me riding out in the fields. Hurried I took the hand bag from her and secured it to the back of the saddle. I then helped her climb onto the horse and she waited patiently as I mounted the energetic bay. With a <em>tsk<em> we urged the horses forward and through the streets of Marmoreal. My heart was pounding because I was so terrified we were going to get caught; in a way we had. Iracebeth was waiting at the gate as we rode through.

"Good morning, Ana." She smiled wickedly up to her sister. "Where are you off to this morning?" She inquired as she examined her nails trying to look uninterested.

"Err- Iloso and I are going to go on a ride. You know that I am on my way back to the Kingdom of Blue tomorrow to meet with the Princes." She responded nervously.

"Oh yes, that's right." Iracebeth muttered. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with desire. "How are you today Iloso?"

"It's Ilosovic. And I am doing quite well." I looked eagerly across the drawbridge which would lead to our freedom wanting to bolt then. But if she didn't suspect we were up to something by that time she would certainly then.

"Not planning to make any rash decisions are you?" She said with another sick smile up to us.

"What would make you think that, Iracebeth?" Mirana looked down to her sister with curiosity.

"One hears things; that's all." She answered.

"No, we are not up to anything. And one should be careful about what one hears. Rumors aren't a thing to be so readily trusted."

"I think you screwing the Captain is one that can be. Plus you're Milliner friend is a very poor executor. Should be a little more sneaky about things." She said with a shrug.

"It was you! YOU BITCH!" Mirana said, shaking. I reached over to place a hand on hers.

"Let's just go." I encouraged her.

"May you rot, you horrible woman! After all the years I stuck up for you." She spat into the girls face then flicked her reins. Her horse thundered forward, its hoof beats echoing off the long wooden bridge. I was quick to nudge my horse with my ankles and he too took thundering off across the bridge. We left Iracebeth in the dust to gape at us.

* * *

><p>We had been travelling for the entire morning and had only made it as far as the edge of the Tugley Woods. Mirana was tired and asked for us to stop by a small brook in a clearing. I should have insisted we keep moving but I didn't want to upset her anymore so I agreed. Something that I mistake now, but that day is filled with regrets.<p>

We had paused by the river for much too long, sitting with Mirana's head in my lap I enjoyed the scene we were experiencing. If it hadn't been so quiet we wouldn't have heard the footsteps as early on as we did.

_Crunk….shhhkkkk….crunch….shhkkk._

I bolted up from sitting position, startling Mirana. She sat up as I went to the bay to grab my long sword. The crunching noises were coming closer and I preparing myself for the worst.

"Iloso?" She looked at me in terror but all I could do was shrug my shoulders. I didn't know what the noise was; the only thing that had been spotted occasionally in the Tugley Woods were a few Bandersnatch.

And the Jabberwock!

He came out of the woods, bellowing loudly. He was apparently looking for something. Mirana alerted him with a blood curdling scream. He looked down at her with a smile crossing his large fangs.

"Princesssssss," He hissed. "How good to find you." He came closer, his large spiked tail flicking back and forth.

"Leave her alone!" I cried and ran toward the beast with my weapon brandished.

"You fool! You come at me alone without the Vorpal!" He laughed and his long neck snaked down to grab Mirana in his teeth.

"Put her down!" I screamed as I charged him. Swinging my sword I was aiming for the long neck in hopes that I would knick a nerve that would cause him to drop Mirana. I hit my mark as the metal bit into the serpent like throat of the Jabberwock which caused him to drop Mirana. Her dress was tattered from the beast's teeth marks and she was bleeding heavily.

The beast let out a scream of agony which led to more shuffling of the trees and to my horror more Jabberwocks began to emerge from the woods. They were as large as small mountains, some of them reaching over the tree tops.

"What are you doing in the Tugley Woods?" I demanded as I went over to Mirana to scoop her up. She was knocked unconscious from the fall and unable to defend herself. The beast flicked his tail in pain but another stepped forward.

"We have been made a deal by the Queen of Red that we will never come back into these woods if we get our sacrifice." He purred. "The head of the man that has been killing all our brothers."

"I killed them because they stepped across their boundaries!" I shouted up at the creature.

"You slaughtered them. He was a young one; didn't know where he was going. Did you think that we were going to allow _you_ safe passage through the Outterlands? Why should we when you won't allow our young one grace for coming into the forest." The large Jabberwock's tail flicked angrily. I scooped Mirana into my arms.

"Leave the forest now!" I yelled.

"No until we have our sacrifices!" He screamed. I didn't waste a moment in bolting back to the back. I tossed Mirana onto his back, sad that she was being treated like a sack of potatoes, and then untied the horse. I leapt unto the animals back and nudged it forward. He was glad enough to create space between he and the giant beasts, breaking immediately into a run. The Jabberwocks let out a ferocious roar and I could hear trees breaking and cracking as they came after me; anger in their eyes. I was shaking in fear but I tried to keep my head as I lead my horse deeper into the woods. He was running as fast as he could, his breathing deep and snorty. I could feel the vibrations in the earth as the Jabberwocks thundered after us. We raced by villages of people who were rushing out of their homes to see what the large noises and rumblings were coming from. Sadly, their curiosity led to their deaths. I glanced behind in my riding to see the beasts gaining and that they were tramping everything in sight. Houses and people just as readily as trees and rocks.

I ran the horse as hard and fast as the creature would go praying that I would find a spot of refuge soon enough. Indeed I did; feet ahead I saw the newly constructed tea table of Tarrant Hightopp. He sat there with Thackery and Tinsley, all looking down into the tea to see that the liquid was rippling.

"TARRANT!" I cried and jumped off the horse, grabbing Mirana with me. We hit the ground hard as the steed continued to race on away from the Jabberwocks but I was able to grab Mirana and right myself to run to the table.

"You have to hide us!" I cried.

"From what?" He looked at me curiously.

"Ah thin' tha'!" Thackery indicated up with the spoon he was using to stir his tea with. We all looked to the end of the dripping utensil and to our horror noticed that he was indicating to the large beasts that had chased after us; they stood in a group heaving from their exercise.

"Do not think we won't leave without a sacrifice!" The creature screamed. I held Mirana close and saw that she was coming to once again.

"W-w-what's going on?" She asked, clutching her head.

"You end!" A small voice came from above. We all looked up and saw Iracebeth riding upon the head of one of the Jabberwocks.

"Iracebeth?" Tarrant cried as she looked up at the monarch. She looked down disgustedly.

"Indeed! I have promised these Jabberwock safe passage in the Red Kingdom when I become Queen. However, I also struck a deal to keep them out of Marmoreal where they were headed. I think that my insolent sister and her foolish Knave could cease to exist. I mean, they are running off to break the law and such. They could've just wandered into a ferocious bunch of Jabberwocks all by accident."

"_You_ offered us up to the Jabberwocks?" I screamed in anger.

"I could reconsider if you wished to come with me, Stayne, into the Red Kingdom. You don't need my sister; she's so little and so stupid. You need a real monarch to love you."

"When did you get the stupid idea that I could love you?" I bellowed.

"When you poured your compliments and dropped your torment of me. I didn't think you really loved me then but I thought to meself; well if he can love and copulate with my sister- why a man like him _demands_ power. With him by my side I could turn heads and command respect."

"He isn't a lapdog!" Mirana screamed up to her sister.

"You are getting eaten, regardless, you twit." She laughed. "Now Iloso-"

"NEVER!" I cried. Tarrant glanced over to me nervously. I was hoping that perhaps all of this was fake- that Iracebeth was pulling our leg. I don't know what she would have done to get the Jabberwocks on her side if she was faking however. It was a stupid notion and ended in the next moment.

"YOUR SACRIFICES MY LOVES!" She cried and pointed toward us. The Jabberwocks stormed forward and I found myself scurrying for long sword. I had left it lying in the field when I had scooped up Mirana and now stood defenseless.

"Oi!" I heard a cry and turned my head to see Tarrant yielding two Claymores. I pushed Mirana toward the woods instructing her to run then turned to catch the sword that Tarrant tossed to me. Together we walked toward the group of dragon like creatures. One jumped over us and I spun to see that it was blocking Mirana's means of escape. It growled down at her. I should have paid attention, however, because three more advanced on Tarrant and myself.

"To your left!" Tarrant cried. I looked and saw a Jabberwock tale flying my way, spikes bared. I ducked and narrowly missed it. Running forth under the creature I was looking for the chink in its armor.

"It's heart! TARRANT GET UNDER IT AND LOOK FOR ITS HEART!" I yelled. He shouted something and I made my way further under the creature. I noticed the soft spot in its chest that undulating with its beating organ and thrust my sword up to the hilt into the skin. The beast let out a terrifying scream and reared up on its back legs. But it fell to the ground dead.

"Good work!" Tarrant cried and turned to battle another Jabberwock. In the next hours of battling we managed to slay only three more Jabberwocks but they far outnumbered us. As our energy waned the Jabberwocks took the opportunity to attack us. They surged forward and Tarrant and I swung our Claymores furiously. We were concentrating intensely on each beast until a cry from the center of the tea table grabbed out attentions.

Thackery and Tinsley had been cowering underneath the table with no weapon nor size to fight the Jabberwocks with. One of the creatures had tipped the table over and glared down upon the two. Thackery had taken to throwing tea cups and scones at its eyes which only made it how in anger. The beast swung its tail at the two of them. Tinsley had seen what was coming and the brave little dormouse knew that the Jabberwock's tail was extremely barb. He flung himself in front of the Hare as the large appendage swung around to the two. He now hung from the creature's tail, skewered on the end of one of the barbs. Tarrant turned just as I did and let out a cry of anguish.

"TINSLEY!" He cried in horror.

"Tarrant!" Thackery cried but the man didn't turn in time. He was knocked in the back of the head by one of tails of the large creature falling to the ground. Another scream turned my attention toward Mirana. She was being thrown about by a giant Jabberwock, lodged in his mouth. Her eyes were wide with terror and pain as his teeth dug into her skin.

"Mira! Hold on!" I cried, running toward the woman. I didn't make it halfway across the field when another tail burst forth and hit me in the face. One of its barbs making its way directly into my left eye. I screamed in pain as I could feel the sinews and blood vessels being torn and the creature pulled its tail away. I put my hands to my face and felt the warm liquid seeping down my cheek. I could see anything out of my left eye and began to stumble across the field to Mirana. She was still held in the jaws of the Jabberwock and I had to get her down. With the Claymore in my right hand and my left clutching my eye socket and surrounding wound I swung toward the creature. It dropped Mirana only to laugh at me.

"You have lost! Stayne!" Iracebeth cried with joy.

"STOP!" I heard a voice coming from the deepest woods. All paused now, surprised by the voice. Turning we watched as Lily made her way into the group. I ran to Mirana as everyone was distracted and came to her. She looked up at me dazed, her hand immediately coming to my eye.

"What is going on here?" She demanded. The Jabberwocks glared at the Princess as she entered the woods.

"The redheaded woman has offered us a deal we would be fools not to take," A Jabberwock stepped forward. He explained what Iracebeth had agreed with the beasts. Lily looked in horror to the middle child. I was losing focus on what was going on around me as the pain in my eye was taking over.

"There is going to be no sacrifices of these two today." Lily spoke up. "They are two foolish teenagers trying to be treated as adults. Actually all three of them are behaving quite childishly." She said. "I am the Queen next in line; is there any way I can make a deal with you."

"We want our sacrifice," The Jabberwock flicked his tail. Lily sighed looking to Iracebeth and then to me and Mirana.

"I understand," Lily looked as if a weight dropped upon her shoulders. "What happens to you if we don't offer a sacrifice?"

"We remain these woods and we go all the way to Marmoreal."

"But that will mean the deaths of thousands of people!" She protested.

"It might," The Jabberwock slithered.

"Will you take a sacrifice of greater price?" She said. Mirana was clinging to me tightly; her hands helping me cover my weeping eye socket.

"No, Lily!" Mirana cried. "You can't!"

"We will." He said. "But it is our definition of greater."

"Will you accept me?" She asked and stepped forward.

"No!" Iracebeth cried, stepping forward.

"You are the future Queen?" The Jabberwock writhed with pleasure.

"I am Lily of Marmoreal," She pulled a scepter from her dress. "I am next in line for the crown of Marmoreal. And all of Underland."

"You are of greater value." He said with a sneer. "We take you."

"We are making a deal." She stepped forward.

"No!" Mirana cried and let me go.

"Lily, you can't do this!" Iracebeth cried as she stepped forward.

"Perhaps you should have thought of the consequences that might come about from your actions- all three of you." She looked with anger burning her eyes from Iracebeth, to me, and then finally to Mirana. "My life is nothing compared to the hundreds that will be killed if they move in."

I hung my head. She was making a brave sacrifice as well as a wise one. Her rule would mean nothing if all her people perished. If she didn't face a coupe before running out of subjects.

"Let us go," Lily said, curtseying before the large Jabberwock. Iracebeth slid off the head of the one she rode. It nuzzled her gently which caused Mirana to throw her a sneer. Tears were cascading down her long pale cheeks as she watched her sister follow the Jabberwock into the woods. I watched, holding my one eye still, as the last of Lily's white dress and plait of red hair disappeared into the underbrush.

We all held our breaths in hope that they may change their mind. But an agonizing scream came from among the trees and a sense of dread filled us.

We all had blood upon our hands.


End file.
